Affair
by emisonislifeok
Summary: Sometimes we marry the wrong person, and this is entirely true for Alison DiLaurentis. Mrs. Right was just in Afghanistan.
1. Chapter 1

**hi i wrote the first four chapters of Endless Summer if you know me from that.**

* * *

The walk from the airplane to the waiting area of the airport was a bit of a challenge that Emily wanted to avoid. It held up the people behind her on the plane, and she felt like they were annoyed by her as she sat down in a wheelchair that a flight attendant brought her. The green camo uniform made her feel like unnecessary attention was being placed upon her, it wasn't everyday a military soldier was wheeled out of an airplane in a full leg brace with crutches.

As an attendant of the airport took over the pushing of the wheelchair, Emily felt eyes turning on her everywhere they went as she was steered through the airport. One young boy pointed obviously at her and said something rather loud to his mother about Emily being hurt, she definitely didn't like the attention that came with this. At one point, right before they were going to arrive at where Emily's parents were waiting to pick her up, she forced the man pushing her wheelchair to stop so that she could get up and crutch the rest of the way. It caused less attention than being pushed in a wheelchair, she was still capable of moving on her own.

As she approached, she saw both her parents on the other side of the barrier that separated paid flyers and people who were here to pick up said paid flyers. Her mother, as if she thought that Emily wouldn't see her, started jumping up and down slightly while waving her hand high up in the air. Even from where Emily stood, her mother looked like she was on the brink of tears. Her father however, smiled brightly at Emily as she crutched her way towards them, holding up his phone to take a picture of her. Typical Wayne Fields.

The second Emily had made her way passed the barrier, her parents were all over her. Her mother pulled her into a tight hug, that almost made her topple over as she tried to keep her balance. She hadn't seen her parents since February of earlier in that year, when she took her 30 days of leave. She could only imagine how they felt when they got the call that she had been injured out in Afghanistan during combat. When she first talked to her father on the phone while she was having surgery in Germany, her father said that her mother first thought Emily was dead, but he had to remind her that military officials come to you directly when a soldier has died. Wayne meant for it to be a joke, Emily understood, but it wasn't at all funny. Especially when she was just recovering from surgery after breaking her leg in three different places.

Looking back, Emily isn't quite sure why she chose to go into the military. Her father was in it yes, but the career in the military that she chose was one of the most dangerous according to the people around her. Being a combat medic wasn't easy stuff, you had to put yourself through emotional and physical stress in order to save people's lives. Combat medics often have to choose to attend to adults rather than dying children since the adult had a better chance of living than the child. Many people asked her how she was able to put up with it that often, but Emily just liked helping people stay alive and help a greater good.

"We're so glad to have you back, Emmy." Wayne said, giving Emily a much less bone crushing hug.

"It's great to be back." Emily said, as she breathed in her father's comforting smell. It's been awhile since she smelt it and she already felt a little better inside. "I honestly just can't wait to get out of this uniform though."

"I can't believe the airport didn't provide you with a wheelchair so that you didn't have to crutch around all the time." Pam huffed. "You would think the airport would care more about wounded warriors."

"Relax mom," Emily said, resting her armpits on the tops of her crutches. "They gave me one, but I got sick of everyone staring so I got out and told the guy pushing me to get lost. I'm really fine, I like it better being able to move even one of my legs anyway."

Her mother pursed her lips, and nodded vigorously as her father helped get the carry on backpack that was on Emily's back, off of her shoulders. Pam looked like she was about to start breaking down and cry in the middle of the airport, as if Emily already had enough attention drawn to her already.

The family slowly began to make their way towards the baggage claim, following the signs and walking a small distance behind Emily, who was determined to stay at least ten feet ahead of them despite being on crutches. Her arms ached by the time they made it to the baggage claim, and she bit her lip to hold back her disgruntled look.

"Olivia is going to be so happy to see you!" Pam said, trying to lighten the mood as they waited for the conveyor belt to start moving.

"Oh, I didn't realize that she was staying with you guys. Is her mom still-?" Emily began to ask.

"Yes, Rowan is still in rehab." Wayne said, his facial expression clear that he was very uncomfortable with the topic of his sister. "She may be staying with us for a while longer."

"Oh…" Emily said, looking at her mom, who looked like she was regretting bringing the topic of Emily's cousin up. "Does she like Rosewood High though?"

"Um, she's having a little difficulty still with adjusting. But she's only been at the school for two months, she still has time to get used to everything. Hopefully November brings some structure." Wayne said.

Emily didn't quite know what adjusting meant. It could mean Olivia wasn't making friends, or that the workload was too much, or even that being in a stable home for once was making her uneasy. Before Emily could open her mouth and ask what that meant, her mother spoke up as father had bent down to grab Emily's small camo duffle bag which only carried a few necessary things that she needed to bring home with her. She had left all of her things behind in Rosewood when she left for the army, she hadn't worn street clothing in months.

"Speaking of November, we're thinking of throwing a small party for you since you're 24th birthday is next week." Pam said.

"Oh mom, you really don't have to-" Emily began, not wanting to make her stay home a big deal.

"Oh don't be like that, I invited your girlfriends from high school. Nothing big, I know how you are." Pam said, waving her off. "Just for dinner and some cake, they'll all be happy to see you."

"Do they want to see me though?" Emily muttered, clearly too loudly since her mother answered her question.

"All of them already confirmed that they are going, they can't wait to see you." Pam said.

"Well, looks like we should get to the car and head home. We'll stop at the high school on the way home to pick up your cousin so that she can see you." Wayne said, carrying Emily's backpack and dufflebag to the car.

"Oh, Emily!" Pam said, opening her purse to dig through it. "I brought you your cellphone, we had it reactivated since you'll be able to use it now that you're home. I already contacted Hanna and Caleb and they want to take you out for dinner on Saturday night."

"Oh... thanks mom." Emily said, taking her phone from her mother before resuming her crutching through the airport. As she crutched, she felt her phone continuously vibrating with notifications in her pants pocket, it was if everyone contacting her forgot her phone wouldn't work in Afghanistan.

The parking garage of the hotel was chilly, the mid-November air blew through the openings and sent a chill up Emily's body even though she was practically sweating from all the crutching she just had to do. Her father went ahead and told she and her mom to stay where they were, going to retrieve the car himself so that Emily didn't have to crutch through the levels.

By the time her dad pulled up in the black SUV, Emily was struggling not to collapse from her already sore arms. Her dad got out and tried to help her into the backseat of the car, even though Emily kept telling him that she was completely capable on her own. Clearly she wasn't able to, as she lifted herself onto the seat and bumped her braced knee on the side of the car, causing a large amount of pain to hit her. She grit her teeth, trying not to scream out in pain as her dad closed the door and put her luggage in the trunk. She situated herself by lifting her leg gingerly with both hands and rested it behind the driver's seat where she sat.

As her dad began driving out of the Philadelphia airport parking garage, Emily took off the camo cap on her head and undid her hair from the bun it was in since she woke up hours ago back in Germany. She unbuttoned her army jacket, leaving her in a pale green t-shirt. She threw the jacket to the other side of the backseat, before pulling out her cellphone which had finally stopped blowing up with notifications.

Looking through all of them, most of them were missed phone calls and voicemails from people who probably didn't know better that she was off in Afghanistan. A few messages were from her friends, who knew that she didn't have her phone, but still sent her a few messages anyway. The rest of the notifications were from games, saying it has been a certain amount of days since she last played.

Seeing nothing important, not even on her Facebook page which had been inactive since February, Emily stowed her phone back in her pocket and made herself comfortable in the backseat. She was exhausted from traveling, and was unable to sleep at all on the plane. She knew even now she wouldn't be able to sleep well either, she wasn't able to since the event that caused her to come home from the war.

Somehow she was able to rest her eyes for the hour car trip back to Rosewood, which was better than nothing and a lot better than what she was used to. She listened to her parents talking, mostly about Emily herself since they probably thought she was sleeping in the backseat. They were concerned for her, and her mother had apparently scheduled her weekly time with a psychiatrist in town who would be able to prescribe her antidepressants once Emily visited him in a few days. They also talked about Olivia, more particularly her mother, who wasn't doing well in rehab.

When Wayne pulled into the familiar parking lot of Rosewood High School, Emily lifted her head which was resting on the glass of the car window. She looked around at her old school, noticing how similar it looked to when she used to attend. Everything was still the same, even the faded blue benches outside of the school.

Wayne parked and told the two girls to wait in the car while he went to sign Olivia out from school. It was barely past one o'clock now and Pam already began asking Emily what she wanted to eat for lunch. Emily had no idea what she wanted to eat, she had been living off of MRE's or Meals Ready to Eat for the past eight months. It was always nice to come home to her mom's home cooking for a month while she was on leave, and not have to eat beans and chili with dried fruit for a while.

Telling her mom she would think about it, she saw her father and her cousin Olivia exiting the front doors of Rosewood High. Neither of them looked happy, and Emily could only guess why. As Olivia approached with her backpack hanging off her shoulder, Emily could see how much she had grown since she last saw her. The last time Emily saw her cousin was going on three years, since she never had time to see Olivia when she was on leave. Olivia, now sixteen-years-old, and not the thirteen-year-old girl with braces that Emily remember, approached the back seat car door that Emily wasn't sitting in and opened it up.

Quickly picking up her army jacket so that Olivia could occupy the seat, she threw her backpack down in the middle seat and got in. Olivia didn't even look in Emily's direction, causing Emily's happiness to see her cousin drop a little.

"Well hello to you too." Emily said, as Olivia crossed her arms.

"Hi Emily." she said, as Wayne got in the driver's side.

"What's going on?" Pam asked. "What happened?"

"Someone wasn't in their English class. She skipped class and went to the cafeteria to be with the kids in the study hall." Wayne said, clearly annoyed. "Apparently this has been the fourth time Olivia has skipped class."

Pam sighed in frustration and rubbed her temples, "Olivia, you need to go to class. Junior year is very important, it's what colleges pay attention to."

"But I already know everything that Mrs. Rollins is teaching! Plus, I always get A's on everything she gives out in that class." Olivia protested, running her hands through her black hair.

Emily examined Olivia as her father pulled out of the parking lot of the school. Olivia was, like Emily, a definition of a Fields. She had the same black hair that everyone in the Fields family had, the same eyes, and tan colored skin. Olivia's eyes were more of an amber brown than Emily's chocolate brown, but she could now see why people would say Olivia looked like her.

"You still have to go to class." Pam said. "Olivia you know this."

"One or both of us has a guardian/teacher conference on Friday to discuss Olivia's behavior with Mrs. Rollins." Wayne informed them, tapping on the steering wheel as they approached a traffic light.

Pam sighed, "What time Friday?"

"After school, four P.M." Wayne said. "I won't be back from work yet, could you go?"

"I can probably make it." Pam sighed. "Emily did you figure out what you wanted for lunch yet, honey?"

"Yeah, can we just get McDonald's?" Emily asked. "I haven't had chicken nuggets and a milkshake in months."

* * *

At eight PM, Emily was all settled back into her old room. Everything was the same from when she left it after she graduated high school. Old pictures were on her dresser and bedside table, swimming medals hung on the door to her closet. There even was her old favorite pair of sunglasses that she would wear everyday in the summer even if there was overcast. It was a snapshot of what Emily's life used to be before she joined the army, and she hadn't changed it because she didn't spend enough time in it to really do anything. When she stayed with her parents, all she did in the room anymore was sleep. No slumber parties were held, and no secrets were spilled on the bedspread, she can't even remember the last time she had brought food into her room since senior year.

It was a bit of a challenge for Emily to take off her brace, then her uniform, hang it up, find some comfortable clothes, put them on, and put her leg brace back on. She almost toppled over at one point as she was trying to pull gray sweatpants on that she remembers buing in her junior year, and zip up a black hoodie. As she gets dressed, she can't help but silently thank God that she's able to at least properly use the bathroom on her own, even if it's as much as an event as putting on clothes.

From where she sits on the edge of her bed, waiting for her mom to call her to dinner, her eyes catch on a photo that must have been taken from when she was sixteen. She's in the swimming pool at Rosewood, her hair tucked under a blue Rosewood Sharks swimming cap, and her red goggles are resting on top of it right above her eyebrow. She's smiling widely but she's clearly out of breath. Emily remembered the day like it was yesterday. It was the day she beat the school record for the butterfly stroke.

Emily smiled slightly as she reached out and touched the frame lightly, as if she was going to jump back into the memory. Simpler times, happier times. She always thought she was going to become a professional swimmer in the Olympics, but the Army called to her and she had a bigger chance of doing successful in the army than becoming an Olympic gold medalist.

"Emily! Dinner's ready!" her mom called, causing Emily to snap out of her nostalgia.

She sighed and reached for her crutches, which helped her stand up and begin to make her journey towards the dining room. In these moments, she hated that her bedroom belonged on the second floor and that she would have to make the slow journey up and down the stairs everyday. Her parents did offer her to sleep in the living room on the pull out couch, but Emily was too stubborn to sleep anywhere but her own room.

The smell of cooking food grew stronger as she made her way slowly down the stairs and into the dining room. Her mom looked up at her as she crutched by the kitchen, calling to Emily that she could've helped her down the stairs. Emily ignored her and sat down in her usual spot in the dining room, her dad already sitting at the head of the table as usual.

"Get settled in?" he asked, smiling warmly at his only daughter.

"Yeah, everything's almost going back to normal." Emily said, lowering the sleeves of her black sweatshirt. It was a chilly night tonight, and Emily wasn't that used to the cold anymore from being in Afghanistan.

Olivia came into the dining room right behind Emily's mother, who set down the meatloaf in the center and went back to get the mashed potatoes and asparagus. Olivia sat down next to Emily, still typing a text message as she pulled her chair in.

"Hey, no screens at the table." Emily's father said, almost immediately after Olivia sat down.

"Okay, I think everything is ready. Let me just go and grab the bread." Pam said, as Emily was passed the pitcher of lemonade from her father.

Emily poured herself a glass as her mom brought the bread and everyone began serving themselves. The strawberry shake and chicken nuggets that Emily had consumed earlier seemed long gone as she put meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, asparagus, and bread on her plate. This would be her first home cooked meal in eight months, and it smelt way better than any food her mom had ever cooked.

Meatloaf wasn't even her favorite dish that her mom made and yet, the first bite was like eating gold in food form. She was clearly eating faster than the others, and was already done with her first portion before any of the others were halfway done.

The meal was relatively silent, the only sound was utensils hitting the plate and the ticking of a clock in the corner. The silence was fairly uneasy, and Emily felt on edge as she started eating her second portion of meatloaf and potatoes.

"Did you do your homework yet?" Wayne asked Olivia.

"Yeah." Olivia muttered, pushing her meat loaf around on her plate.

"That's a lie, your backpack is still in the same spot it was when you got home." Wayne said.

"Well if you knew it was a lie, why did you ask?" Olivia huffed.

"Olivia, you really need to try. English at least, you want to be a writer. Colleges will look at your English grade if that's what you want to be." Wayne said.

"I am trying, but the book Mrs. Rollins assigned us doesn't make sense. The wording is from like the 18th century, why does she think we can read this?" Olivia asked.

"Probably because she thinks you can challenge yourself." Pam pointed out.

"What book are you reading in her class?" Emily asked, turning to look at Olivia.

"Great Expectations. It's about some poor boy who falls in love with some cold rich bitch who uses him so he goes and becomes a gentleman so that she'll like him." Olivia explained.

"Hey, language." Pam said, pointing a finger at Olivia.

"Sorry." Olivia sighed.

"I read that book, a few times actually. It's really good, I can help you if you want." Emily offered.

Dinner continued in silence, and Olivia left the second the dishes were being cleared. Emily continued to sit in her seat, unable to help with cleaning up. Her father went into his study once dinner ended, and her mother brought Emily in a bowl of french vanilla ice cream. Pam sat down across from her, nursing her cup of decaf coffee as Emily took a bite of her ice cream.

"I don't know what we're going to do with her." Pam said in a hushed whisper, as if Olivia was in the other room. Olivia was in fact upstairs, in the guest bedroom which had been converted into her own bedroom. They even painted it purple for her.

"Why is she staying with you for so long anyway?" Emily asked.

"Well your father's sister isn't doing well with the heroin issue, and the Child Protection Services got involved. Your father and I offered to take custody of Olivia instead of her being put into the system, we thought it would be ok since it was just us two now that you were gone, but Olivia's been through a lot." Pam explained.

"Is she seeing anyone for what's going on? Therapy at school?" Emily asked, her spoon clinking against the glass bowl.

"Yes but her therapist says that she barely talks when they have their sessions. We don't blame her for her behavior, anyone in the situations she's been in would act that way." Pam said. "We're just trying to keep her on the right track."

"How much longer do you think she'll be staying?" Emily asked.

Pam sighed, "A long time from the looks of it. I'll let you finish your ice cream, you can leave the bowl there when you're done. I just need to go and take the clothes out of the dryer before they wrinkle."

* * *

That night, Emily didn't even attempt to get out of the sweatpants and hoodie she was wearing. They were comfortable enough clothes to be worn to bed, so she decided it wasn't worth the battle. She sat at the edge of her bed by her bedside table and took the bottle of pills that were sitting on the top. Opening the lid, she took out the correct painkiller dose and the glass of water that her mom brought up for her.

Placing the pills in her mouth, Emily took a long drink from the water and closed the pill bottle before placing it back where it was before. Sighing, she got herself situated in bed and used four pillows to prop up her broken leg. Right as she turned off the light in her room, her phone vibrated from her bedside table. Reaching over to retrieve it, a text message alert from Hanna appeared on the screen.

 **Hanna Marin: hey emily! just wanted to text you and confirm that caleb & i are taking you to this new restaurant 'the radley' on saturday. apparently they converted the old mental institution into a hotel/restaurant/bar? anyway, we have reservations for 8:15pm, so we'll pick you up at 8. is that ok? btw, hope you're settling in! :) welcome back to rosewood sweetie ;)**

Emily smiled, Hanna still texted like a high schooler sometimes. At least her grammar had improved. Hanna's simple text made Emily feel a bit better, she missed Hanna's personality greatly over in Afghanistan where everything was so depressing all the time. She quickly typed her phone to respond, wanting to get the text out of the way before she forgot.

 **Emily: hey! yeah, 8 is fine. can't wait to catch up! see you both! :)**

Placing her phone on her bedside table, Emily shut her eyes and tried to fall asleep even though she knew that she would be getting no where. She tried hard to this time, but just as she was somewhat started to drift off, she felt like she was falling all over again and jerked back awake.

Getting frustrated, Emily got up and carefully avoided putting pressure on her left leg until she got her crutches. She made her way towards the stairs and hobbled down them, getting on her butt at one point to slid down the steps quickly.

At the bottom, Emily made her way to Olivia's backpack which was still in the same spot by the door since she got home earlier that day. Emily bent down awkwardly since her leg brace was preventing her from properly doing so, and opened Olivia's backpack. She pulled out her copy of Great Expectations.

By the time she got to the living room, it must've been ten minutes since she got out of bed. She plopped down on the couch and re-elevated her leg with the couch cushions, opening the worn book carefully since it was clear a few of the pages were close to falling out. Inside the book written on the binding was a list of names of students who were assigned the book in years before. Looking through the names she saw written a few names before 'Olivia Fields 2017', she saw written in glitter green gel pen, 'Aria Montgomery 2010'. Smiling to herself, she ran her fingers delicately over the indent of gel pen on the book, remembering the beginning of junior year when she and Aria read the book since they were in the same class with Mr. Fitz as their teacher.

As Emily flipped through the title page and the intro, she squinted to read the small print on the page. The only light was coming from the dim moonlight that shined through the window and onto the book, scarcely allowing her to make out the text. She began reading, immediately getting caught up in the only booked she liked that was assigned to her in her four years of high school.

She read all night, and only stopped when she heard movement from upstairs and the sound of footsteps coming down the steps. She was caught up in Pip's story, and currently she was at the part when Pip is told that a mysterious benefactor has paid for him to go and become a gentleman. She looked over at the landing of the stairs as her mom came into a view, and realized that the sun was coming over the horizon. She realized she should've known earlier since the sunlight had made it easier to see, but she wasn't paying much attention to the real world.

"Emily!" her mother said, startled by seeing her daughter lying on one of the couches in the living room. "I didn't realize you were up."

"I never went to sleep." Emily said, closing the book and mentally reminding herself of where she was in Olivia's book. "It's been hard lately."

Her mother blinked her eyes, clearly still trying to wake up. "Well I was just about to start getting breakfast ready so that Olivia and your father could eat before he took her to school and he went to work. I'm at the station today until five, are you fine here alone? You can rent a movie or something if you want."

"I think I can figure something out, thanks mom." Emily smiled slightly. "I think my challenge for today is taking a shower."

"Oh I can help you before I got to work, don't you worry!" her mother said.

"Um, I think I'm going to try to figure this one out on my own. Thanks though." Emily said.

"I'm making coffee, would you like any?" Pam asked, motioning to the kitchen behind her.

"Yeah, that would be good. I'll come in and sit at the table while you make breakfast." Emily said, pushing the blanket off of her as she sat up. "I just need to put this book back into Olivia's backpack."

"Oh here, I got it." Pam said, quickly walking over to where Emily sat. She took the book from where it was next to Emily and hurried off into the front hallway of their house.

Emily sighed as she repositioned the pillows back in their original spot as reached for her crutches. Pulling herself up into a standing position, she slipped them under her armpits and slowly made her way into the kitchen and towards the little table. Pulling the chair out, she gradually sat down at the table as her mom came back into the kitchen to start making breakfast.

"I'm making omelets, do you want one as well?" Pam asked, opening the fridge and bending over to get out the carton of eggs, the milk, and other vegetables to put in the omelet.

"Yeah, that would be nice." Emily said, as her mom scooped coffee grounds to put in the coffee pot.

"I'll make yours first since the other two won't be down here for another fifteen minutes." Pam said, as Emily examined the clock near the stove. It was just past six o'clock in the morning, had she really been up reading for close to six hours?

"I made an appointment with a local psychiatrist for you that's on Monday. Well, every Monday." her mother said, as she started the coffee and went into the cabinets for a mixing bowl.

"Oh?" Emily asked, remembering her mother mentioning it to her father in the car when they thought she was asleep in the back seat.

"It's a fairly new practice. Dr. Rollins and Dr. Gordon opened it about a year ago, both nice young men. I scheduled you one with Dr. Gordon, he should be able to prescribe you some medication to help you with your sleep and other things. Also, you're supposed to go to a physical therapy clinic to help heal your leg properly, we want to make sure that you can still walk after your leg recovers." Pam explained, as she cracked eggs into a bowl.

"And when does that start?" Emily sighed.

"Once you get your brace off." Pam said, grabbing a whisk from a drawer. "It's lucky the government pays for all of this."

Emily rubbed her temples, already feeling a bit stressed out with all the things that needed to be done for her leg to heal properly.

By the time the bacon was being taken from the frying pan and Emily had finished about half of her coffee, Olivia came walking into the kitchen with slightly wet hair and her clothes for the day on. Another thing Emily noticed about Olivia was her clothing style, and how Olivia was wearing exactly what Emily would've worn to school back in high school.

"Hey wait, is that my blue varsity jacket?" Emily asked, recognizing the blue jacket with the black sleeves.

Olivia stopped and looked at Emily blankly for a moment, "Maybe." she responded. "Do you care that I wear it?"

"No, I was just wondering since I really haven't seen it since I was in high school." Emily said, sprinkling pepper on her omelet before taking a bite.

"Oh, sorry. I've been raiding your closet since I got here to be honest. You have nice clothes and, no one really wears them. I thought I would put them to use." Olivia shrugged, sitting down across from Emily.

"It's fine really, I'm glad you're wearing them. But since I'm back now, just ask if you ever want to borrow something of mine again ok?" Emily asked.

Olivia nodded and stretched as Emily's mom put bacon and Olivia's omelet on a plate before placing it in front of her.

"Thanks Auntie Pam." Olivia said, trying her best to smile.

"So that book you're reading for English, I don't understand how you don't like it." Emily said. "Your teacher has good taste in literature."

"Yeah, she's pretty cool. This is her first year teaching I guess, at least that's what I heard. She's like really young too, like a little older than you. Like right out of college, so obviously every guy in my class practically drools over her." Olivia said, taking a bite of her bacon.

"Do they?" Emily chuckled, remembering how the girls in Emily's junior English class did the same to Mr. Fitz. Aria in particular.

"Good morning everyone." Emily's father said, walking into the kitchen while trying to button the sleeves of his collared shirt with one hand. He kissed Emily's mom's forehead, and did the same to Emily. "Sleep well?"

He sat down in the seat next to Emily while adjusting his tie, and Emily got a strong whiff of his cologne that he must've put in only seconds ago.

"Are you okay with staying here all day, Emmy?" her father asked, as he drank a sip of his dark coffee.

"What?" Emily asked, turning her attention to her father. "Oh yeah, of course. It's really not a problem, it's not like I can do much anyway."

As breakfast continued and then was quickly wrapped up, Emily rose from her seat and denied help from both her parents as she crutched her way to the stairs. It was a lot harder going up than down, but she strongly believed that she made it up faster than she did the first time last night.

When she got back to her room, she looked through her closet and pulled out jeans with a plaid shirt and tank top that she laid on her bed before grabbing her bathrobe and slowly made her way towards the bathroom of her house.

It was clear that Olivia had just used it, the whole bathroom smelled of fruity shampoo and the mirror was still foggy with steam. Emily made her way to the toilet and close the lid so that she could sit down. She began undoing the velcro straps to her leg brace before carefully sliding it down her leg. Next came her sweatpants, and she cringed at the sight of her broken leg.

Her broken left leg was considerably swollen compared to her right one, and her left leg was also a bruised color pretty much from her knee cap down. She slowly peeled off the large bandage that was on her leg from the surgery she had a few days before, revealing the stitches from the incision they made on her leg to get all the bone fragments out.

Once she got in the shower, she held onto the side of the railing and let the warm water run down her face as she took several deep breaths. The water felt nice on her skin, and as she massaged shampoo into her hair, she was finally able to relax slightly.

She was exhausted from not sleeping, and wished she could sleep for long periods of time still. But falling asleep was just filled with nightmares and the sensation of falling all over again.

She tried to clear her thoughts of back in the war, and all that she saw since February by metaphorically washing it away with the water from the shower. But it was easier said than done.

* * *

On Friday afternoon, her mother came home from the station at around two to find Emily starting season 3 of Orange Is The New Black on Netflix, a show she never had time for since she was in the army but for the past few days she had binge watched almost the whole thing. She was wearing a maroon sweatshirt that was zipped up slightly and dark colored jeans.

"Hey, you're back." Emily said, looking at her mom from where she sat in the living room.

"Olivia's teacher conference is today, at 2:30. I just wanted to stop home and change out of my work clothes." her mom explained. "You should come with me, you haven't been out of the house in days."

"Why? I'm not her guardian." Emily frowned.

"You are over eighteen and you do live in the house, so you're technically a guardian of her." Pam said. "Come on, get some fresh air."

"If you can't tell, I'm kind of immobilized. There's a reason why I can't get much fresh air." Emily said.

"Please just come." Pam sighed.

Emily chewed on her bottom lip as she contemplated if she should go with her mom or continue to watch her show.

"Fine, I'll come with you. Let me just get shoes from my clo-" Emily began.

"I'll bring them down to you, just wait here I won't be long." Pam said, hurrying towards the stairs to get changed.

When they were both in the car on the way to Olivia's school, Emily looked out at the familiar scenery of the town as they drove through it. They passed the white church that her family often went to, Spencer's family's house, and the grocery store. Emily tapped her legs slightly as they drove in silence, and only tore her eyes away when they arrived at the school.

Emily quickly got out before her mom could try to help her, and followed her into the school that she hadn't set foot in in five years. Many memories began flooding back, despite the school being almost empty since the school day ended a half an hour ago. Emily's mom went to the front desk as Emily looked around the front hall of the school.

The beige lockers and the white floor brought many memories of walking through the hallways with her three best friends. She smiled slightly at the posters on the walls of clubs and school events that were coming up, as her mom exited the front office.

"Okay, Mrs. Rollins' classroom is on the first floor, so we won't have to get you up any stairs." Pam said. "Do you know where room 24 is?"

"Yeah, that's my old English classroom actually. It was Mr. Fitz's old room." Emily said, already remembering the path to the classroom.

She and her mom began to head in the direction, passing only a few students who stayed after school for clubs or just because they didn't want to go home. Emily remembered taking the same route every day in high school with Aria, trying to get to his class before the bell rang.

They approached room 24 and Emily stayed back slightly as Pam, opened the door to the classroom.

"You can go in first mom." Emily said, when her mom tried to hold the door open for her.

Pam entered with Emily close behind her, trying to close the door without smacking her broken leg into the door frame.

As she turned around from closing the door, she looked over at the teacher's desk where a woman was sitting at the front of the room. Her hair was long and a bright blonde, and it looked like she was grading papers while waiting for Olivia's guardians.

She looked up as both women entered, and immediately flashed a warm smile that Emily instantly recognized.

"Hi," she said, warmly. "You must be Mrs. Fields."

Emily squinted as she remembered the face from her high school days, if it wasn't her Emily was going absolutely insane. She didn't say anything as she her mom introduced herself and shook Mrs. Rollins' hand.

"And this is my daughter Emily, she's one of Olivia's guardians as well." Pam said, motioning to Emily.

"Emily," Mrs. Rollins said rather breathlessly, looking surprised to see her.

"Hi Alison," Emily said, shifting awkwardly as she remembered the previous interactions she had with the woman in front of her. "You were a DiLaurentis last time I saw you right?"

"It hasn't been DiLaurentis for almost two years but yes." Alison said.

"It's funny, you're not how I remembered you being." Emily said, as she sat down in one of the chairs that were in front of Alison's desk.

"I was quite different back in high school, I know." Alison said. "I don't like to look at my high school days though, they're a thing of the past."

Emily was never friends with Alison in high school...well, they were sort of friends. Alison and Emily did do some things together alone that some would label as friends, but neither publicized their friendship, which was a rather flirtatious friendship. Alison was popular, very popular. In high school, Alison wasn't the nicest of girls. She had always been nicer to Emily, especially when they were alone. It was weird seeing her so nice and mature, since Alison was known to be a party animal back in their high school days. She and Emily had engaged in a few party activities.

"So we should probably start discussing the topic of your niece." Alison said, looking down at what looked like a transcript in front of her. "This is Olivia's transcript for the first quarter so far."

She slid Olivia's grade sheet across her desk and towards Emily's mother, who picked it up to examine it. Emily placed her cellphone on the edge of Alison's desk so that she wouldn't have the uncomfortable feeling in her pocket.

Pam sighed and rubbed her temple with her free hand, "A D+." she stated.

"She hasn't been turning in her homework and not testing her best on top of skipping class." Alison said. "I know she has interests in journalism or writing when she graduates, but colleges won't accept D's in English."

"Is there anyway we can fix this so that she still has a chance to get into college?" Pam asked.

"Well unfortunately, quarter one is ending right before Christmas so I don't think she'll be able to get much higher than a C this quarter. But if she works hard in her classes, and not just this one, she will be able to get pull it together for college applications next year." Alison explained.

Emily looked around the room as her mom discussed Olivia's grades with Alison, looking at the eiffel tower picture and the France map in the corner of the room. A giant poster of Great Expectations was also hanging on the wall, with a few quotes from the book scattered on the wall around the room as well.

"Olivia has a lot of potential, which is something I can't say for all of my students. I think if she tried a little harder, she would be able to get much farther than she already is now." Alison explained. "I know she's been switching schools a lot and a general understanding of her family life. I can't speak for her, but I know how it feels to not have your mother be there much for her. My mother never seemed to be satisfied with me or my brother and sister. If she ever needs to talk to someone about it, I'd be happy to listen. I'll tell her that in class on Monday when I see her again."

"Thank you, Mrs. Rollins." Pam said.

"If you don't have any questions, I can show you both out." Alison said.

"I think my husband and I will discuss it more with her when we get home." Pam said, rising from her seat to shake Alison's hand lightly. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Rollins."

"And to you too." Alison smiled, making her face look at least ten times more pretty when her dimples became visible. "It was nice to see you again Emily, it's been a while."

"Nice to see you as well, Alison." Emily said, following her mom towards the door.

Alison closed the door behind them when they left, and Emily and Pam began their path back to the front of the school. They almost made it to the front door when Emily stopped in her tracks, realizing she had left her cellphone back in Mrs. Rollins' classroom.

"Hang on mom, I left my phone back in the classroom." Emily said, turning around.

"I can go get it for you!" her mom called as Emily quickly crutched back down the hallway.

"No it's fine! I'll meet you in the car!" Emily called as she picked up her pace.

By the time she arrived back in front of Alison's classroom she was almost out of breath, and knocking on the door of Alison's class.

"Emily, didn't think I would see you again so soon." Alison said, sounding almost surprised that Emily was back.

"I actually just left my cellphone on your desk, I'm not used to carrying it around much." Emily admitted sheepishly, almost feeling intimidated but Alison's mature beauty.

Alison laughed, which sounded just as nice as her voice. "It's alright, I'll grab it for you."

"I didn't know how much you were into Paris and Great Expectations too." Emily observed, referring to her decorated classroom.

"I spent a semester abroad in Paris and I fell in love with Great Expectations when we had to read it in junior year. There's something magical about Pip and Estella." Alison said, smiling as she grabbed Emily's phone and brought it back to her.

"Thanks." Emily said, stowing the phone in her pocket.

"You know, I heard about what happened to you in Afghanistan, well I sort of know." Alison said. "I just wanted to say sorry for all those people that feel like they need to do everything for you."

"Why are you apologizing?" Emily asked, letting out a breathy laugh and smiling.

"Because I know that in high school you were pretty independent and liked to stay in the background. I could only assume that you still feel the same." Alison said.

"I didn't know you paid attention to me in high school." Emily said, smiling widely.

"I paid attention to everyone in high school." Alison said. "But you in particular, I totally thought I was going to see you one day in some foreign country participating in the Olympics."

"Hey things change." Emily pointed out.

"They do." Alison agreed. "But you haven't, you're still the same Emily Fields' that half of the student body was fawning over."

"I think you have the wrong person, no one fawned over me. I only had one girlfriend." Emily said, feeling a blush creep in on her cheeks and her stomach slightly twist.

"Oh but they did, I was one of them." Alison admitted. "Anyway, you should probably be getting to your mom. I'll see you around hopefully? You are staying in Rosewood for a while right?"

"Yeah I am until my leg heals and I walk again. Then I have to get cleared to make sure I can still do my job correctly, then I go back." Emily said.

"Rosewood is small enough that you just keep bumping into the same people, maybe that will be the case with us." Alison said.

"Goodbye Alison." Emily smiled, turning to leave the classroom.

"Please, call me Ali." Alison said. "And see you around, Em."

* * *

Saturday evening brought bright headlights streaming in through the front windows as Emily waited to be picked up by Caleb and Hanna. Quickly rising from the seat and grabbing her crutches that were right next to her, she made her way to the door and opened the front door to see Hanna holding her hand out as if she was about to knock on the door.

"Hey you!" Hanna said, quickly wrapping her arms around Emily before Emily could react.

"Hey Hanna." Emily grunted, as one of her crutches fell from under her shoulder and hit the porch floor.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry." Hanna gasped, bending down to pick up the crutch that fell before giving it to Emily. "Caleb's in the car, he's so excited to see you."

Following Hanna down the porch steps, Emily got down the two steps slowly and denied Hanna's offer to help her. The sky was almost completely black and Caleb waved to Emily through the window from the driver's seat as Hanna opened the back door of Caleb's Jeep.

"Hey Fields!" Caleb said, happily twisting in his seat to smile at Emily. He still looked the same as he did when they were in high school, but now smile lines were starting to form at the corner of his eyes.

"Hey Caleb." Emily smiled, situating herself in the backseat as Hanna got in the car.

"Okay, so the reservation is soon so we should probably get going." Hanna said, as Caleb put the car in reverse.

"Don't worry Hanna, I wasn't going to stall in her driveway." Caleb chuckled slightly as he backed out of her driveway.

As they got on the main road towards the new restaurant, Emily and Hanna began catching up on all that they missed. Caleb chimed in occasionally, but most of the ride was them listening to the hit radio station and talking about how Caleb and Hanna's neighbor tried to tell them that their dog kept using the bathroom in her yard.

"She was so wrong because Captain has an electric fence, so he wouldn't be able to go over there if he tried." Hanna said, as they pulled into the parking lot.

Inside the restaurant, the atmosphere was dim and from the looks of it, very fancy. There were white clothed tables with candles and fancy table setting everywhere. Fancy music could be heard just enough to make it background music, and the bar near the front of the restaurant had two bartenders in black collared shirts dishing out drinks at a fast pace.

Caleb approached the girl in a black polo standing at the front behind a dark colored podium, looking up from a bright screen as he approached.

"Reservation for Rivers." he said, his voice raspy as the high school looking girl checked over her book.

"Of course, right this way Mr. Rivers." the girl said, grabbing three leather menus and motioning for them to follow.

Hanna followed Caleb and Emily stuck close behind. The restaurant was crowded with people in fancy clothes and they all looked up from their red wine or fancy meals to look at Emily crutch by. The amount of people inside the restaurant was a bit overwhelming for Emily, and she felt a tightening in her stomach as they were led to a table for four.

"Actually, can I sit on that side of the table?" Emily asked, when Caleb and Hanna moved to sit on the side of far side of the table. "I kind of want to be able to see the door."

"Uh, yeah. Of course." Caleb said, as he and Hanna quickly switched sides of the table.

Once they all sat down, each was given a black leather menu with the name 'The Radley' embroidered on it in gold. Emily opened the menu and examined it, looking at the prices of all the food and what she could pick from.

"Oh by the way Em, dinner is on Caleb so don't worry about paying." Hanna said, placing a hand on Caleb's wrist which was resting on the table as he looked over the menu.

"Oh, I can pay for my dinner. It's really not a big deal, I have money." Emily said.

"Really Emily, it's fine. Like Hanna said, it's on me." Caleb said.

A few minutes later, a waitress approached them in a black collared shirt and white waist apron. She had her hair pulled back in a ponytail and looked no older than thirty-five. Her lips were a dark red and her hair extremely dark in the dim light, but Emily could make out her bright green eyes.

"Hello everyone, welcome to 'The Radley,' the new hotel, bar, and restaurant in Pennsylvania." she smiled. "My name is Anya and I'll be serving you tonight. Can I start you off with any drinks?"

"What red wine do you recommend?" Hanna asked, looking up from her menu to smile slightly at their waitress.

"I personally recommend the cabernet but the sheroz is also very good." Anya said, as Caleb closed his menu.

"I'll have the cab then." Hanna said brightly.

"Same for me." Caleb replied, placing his menu in front of them.

"And for you?" Anya asked, looking at Emily as she wrote down their orders on her notepad.

"I'll have a vodka and soda." Emily said, not looking up from her menu.

It wasn't until Anya walked away to go and get their drinks, that Hanna spoke up.

"Emily...are you sure that's a good idea?" she asked timidly.

"Was what a good idea?" Emily asked, looking up from the different steaks she could choose from.

"To have a vodka and soda." she said. Emily glanced at Caleb and noticed that he looked equally nervous. "Aren't you on like wicked strong painkillers or something? Won't it mess alcohol mess with your medication?"

"Hanna, I haven't had a drink since February. I think I'll be fine." Emily almost snapped, and she could see Hanna gulp dryly from where she sat.

Hanna didn't bring up the topic of Emily's drink choice even after their drinks were placed in front of them. The three of them ordered their dinners, Emily going for a classic spaghetti and meatballs.

She took a sip of her drink and tasted the alcohol in the back of her throat as she swallowed, making it tingle along with the fizz from the lemon-lime soda. She looked up at the couple that was being sat at the table in front of them and one to the right, recognizing the girl by her blonde hair.

Alison sat down at the table for two right by them, a slightly older man with dark brown eyes and a strong jawline sat down across from her, his back facing Emily. Judging from his Rolex watch on his wrist, he was a very well off man. He didn't look that much older than Alison, maybe late twenties but Emily was never good at guessing someone's age from their appearance.

Alison didn't look over at Emily, instead smiling slightly at her husband in front of her as she was handed her menu. Emily tried to turn her attention back to the conversation that Hanna and Caleb were having about their dog, but it was hard since she didn't share the same adoration for their dog that they did.

She began tapping her fingers on the table as she sipped her drink, glancing at the door of the restaurant as people entered the hotel. She adjusted her leg, but hit the leg of the table unintentionally and yelped out in pain.

"Oh my God, are you ok?" Hanna asked, ending her conversation with Caleb.

"Yeah." Emily said, tears springing to her eyes. "I'm fine. Really. Let's just keep talking, when are you guys planning to have your wedding?"

Hanna instantly lit up, and began talking the same way she did when Emily first heard about their engagement in a letter that was sent to her out in Afghanistan.

"We just talked to a wedding planner, and we were thinking April at the earliest, early May at the latest." Hanna said, as Caleb smiled and looked at Hanna. "But I did need to ask you something important, Em."

"Yeah, sure. Anything." Emily replied, nodding her head.

"I want you to be my maid of honor in the wedding." Hanna said, causing Emily's eyes to widen.

"Wha-, are you serious?" Emily asked.

"Of course!" Hanna said. "Why do you sound so surprised?"

"I thought you would've asked Spencer or Aria for that honor, honestly." Emily said, shocked that someone would actually ask her.

"Emily, you were my best friend in high school. More than the other girls, and the only reason we haven't talked much is because you've been off in Afghanistan. You're my best friend Emily, and I want you to be the maid of honor in our wedding." Hanna said.

"Hanna, I would be honored." Emily smiled. This was the first good news she had heard since she got back to Rosewood.

Hanna smiled, happy with Emily's reaction as they continued to chatter about what they had in mind for the wedding. Caleb wanted a simple and small wedding, one that wouldn't draw a lot of attention, well more than what a groom would get. Hanna wanted the wedding to be outside, with the reception in a pavilion with a DJ and dance floor.

"You guys should definitely have that pizza truck cater your wedding." Emily suggested, knowing full well that she would convince whoever she was going to married that they needed to have a pizza truck at their wedding.

"I would be down for that." Caleb smiled, as Hanna pushed his arm slightly in unspoken disapproval.

"You both wish." Hanna said, as Emily finished her first drink.

She blinked a few times as her spirit lightened, the drink doing her well in making her feel better. Her eyes flickered over to the door of the restaurant and then to the table nearby that sat Alison and her husband.

Alison had a glass of red wine in her hand, sipping it slightly as she listened to her husband talk animately while glancing down at his phone in front of him. She looked like she was trying her best to at least pretend to be interested in what he had to say, but Emily could see in her bright blue eyes that she was anything but impressed. Alison's blue eyes suddenly flickered over to where Emily sat, a warm smile breaking out onto her ruby red lips. Her dimples immediately became visible when she smiled, her eyes twinkling slightly in the candle light. She waved slightly to Emily, who flashed her a smile back.

"Who are you smiling at?" Hanna noticed, looking behind her at who Emily was looking at. The waitress returned with their food, placing the steaming dishes in front of them.

"No one." Emily responded shaking her head as Hanna looked obviously for who Emily exchanged a smile with. She turned to the waitress quickly, "Can I get another drink?"

"Alison DiLaurentis?" Hanna asked, turning back around, a slight smile on her face. "I didn't know you were talking to Alison DiLaurentis."

"She's my cousin's English teacher." Emily responded, picking up her fork and began to twirl her spaghetti. "I talked to her for the first time in five years yesterday, it's not that big of a deal."

"Yeah, but you both seemed pretty friendly just now." Hanna smirked.

"She's married Hanna." Emily said, taking a bite of her pasta as her eyes flashed over to the door again.

"Why do you keep looking at the door?" Hanna asked, cutting into her chicken.

"I'm not." Emily said, as the waitress placed her new drink in front of her and picked up her empty class.

"Yes you are, you're fidgeting and you've done it at least twenty-"

"Shut up Hanna." Emily snapped, picking up her fist and slamming it on the table.

Everything on the table moved, making a clinking noise that made people nearby turn around to look. Emily glanced at Alison's table and saw her husband crane his head around to look at her, even Alison looked over at her with a blank expression.

Realizing what she just did, she looked at Hanna and Caleb who were both staring at her in surprise. Hanna's mouth hung open slightly, and Emily instantly felt terrible with what she just did.

"I-I, I'm so sorry, Hanna." Emily said, her mouth hanging open. "I don't know why I just did that."

Hanna seemed to recover quickly from the shock, "No it's fine, Em. I get it. You must've had a lot of stress on you overseas, I shouldn't have said anything."

Dinner continued awkwardly, and Emily noticed that Hanna and Caleb kept exchanging uneasy looks with each other as they ate. Emily didn't speak much, only giving one word answers in response to the questions that were asked.

She ended up eating a more than half of the plate of spaghetti that was served to her. Caleb paid with his credit card, as the waitress took their meals away to put them in leftover bags. Emily glanced one last time at Alison as she finished her second drink, tapping her fingers again on the clothed table.

"Okay, here's your credit card you guys are all set." Anya said, as she placed their bagged meals and the black book with Caleb's credit card inside. She turned to Emily before walking off, glancing down at her braced leg. "Did you break your leg falling from something?"

Emily looked down at her leg, before back up at their waitress. "No, actually I just got back from a tour in Afghanistan." Emily said. "And no I didn't break it from falling off something, I broke it from a building collapsing on me."

* * *

"So, you haven't been able to sleep since you've returned home from Afghanistan is that correct?" Dr. Gordon asked, from his spot on the chair facing Emily on the couch.

Emily was sitting up on the couch, her crutches next to her in a fairly quiet room. The only sound besides the scratching of Dr. Gordon's pen on his notepad was the ticking of the clock behind him, signalling that there was still forty five minutes left of their session.

Dr. Gordon was already balding even though he was in his early thirties, his face cleanshaven and his clothes pressed neatly. He seemed like a quiet man, married judging by the silver ring on his left hand, and had a son, judging by the picture on his desk of him and a small boy who looked about three.

"Yeah, I mean I've fallen asleep briefly but not for much longer than an hour." Emily replied, glancing at the closed door to Dr. Gordon's office.

"And do you feel tired at all during the day? Nauseous, headaches, anything?" he asked, his icy blue eyes looking up at Emily as he waited for her response.

"I guess I'm pretty tired, but it comes and goes." Emily said simply.

"Any nightmares?" he asked.

Emily thought for a moment, thinking about the times she did fall asleep for a short while. "Yeah, I did."

"And what do those nightmares consist of, do you recall?"

"Falling." Emily said, looking up from her shoes.

"So about what happened in Afghanistan, would you consider it-" Dr. Gordon began, but Emily cut him off instantly.

"I don't want to talk about what happened." she said, shaking her head.

"Okay, we don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." he said, crossing something out on his notepad.

Emily looked at the table on the side of the couch, looking at the stack of business cards that were placed on the table. It read, "Gordon & Rollins", with the names of the doctor's listed underneath.

Rollins, could Dr. Rollins be related to Alison's husband? She wasn't sure what her husband worked as, or if he had other members of his family in Rosewood.

She and her psychiatrist didn't talk much, only a few more things were exchanged in their scheduled hour.

"Well, Ms. Fields it looks like you're suffering from PTSD due to the event that happened to you in Afghanistan." Dr. Gordon said.

"Yeah, no shit." Emily scoffed. Dr. Gordon looked up at her with an unamused expression on his face, and Emily cleared her throat. "Sorry."

"I'm going to prescribe you some sleeping medication as well as an antidepressant that you should take with your pain medication that your doctor prescribed you." Dr. Gordon said, reaching for prescription slips to write out for her to take to the pharmacy. "Prazosin is normally for high blood pressure, but it also can be used to help you sleep better at night. It should help with the nightmares. I'll start you off with 1mg capsules, you should take one at least a half an hour before bed each night."

Emily reached out and took the slip he wrote, and watched as he began another one.

"As for the antidepressant, I'm prescribing you Zoloft which should help with your anxiety and what you described as fidgeting. Neither of these should interfere with your pain medication for your leg, I'll see how you're doing next Monday when you visit."

"Thanks, doc." Emily said, taking the slip from him before starting to stand up.

"Oh and Emily," Dr. Gordon said, as she slipped her crutches under her arm. "a word of advice."

"Sure." Emily responded.

"You should try and resume your life from when you put it on pause when you joined the army five years ago." he said from where he sat in the chair.

"Meaning?"

"Meaning get out and be with people. Get a significant other maybe." Dr. Gordon.

Emily let out a breathy laugh, "The only person worth going after isn't available."

"Well then find someone else." he shrugged. "You survived a life threatening situation while trying to save your fellow soldiers. That's heroic."

"All I did was break my leg when a building collapsed on top of me. That's not heroic."


	2. Chapter 2

The same night after she and her husband Rollins' dinner at The Radley, Alison found herself curled up in their large bed with her laptop settled on her stomach. She was propped up by a few fluffy pillows, listening to the sound of running water in the master bathroom. Now that it was later at night, dark brown Wayfarer optical glasses were on her face instead of the contacts that she usually wore during the day. Her hair was pulled back into a French braid, coming to rest on her shoulder as she looked at the screen to her computer.

She was on Facebook, scrolling through her feed and liking photos that she barely even liked. Looking at her "Friends You May Know" list, she recognized a name and a face almost immediately. Emily Fields, with 67 mutual friends. Immediately interested, she clicked on Emily's profile as was brought up with a taste of what Emily's life was like.

She scrolled through the pictures, but from the looks of it, Emily didn't use her Facebook often anymore. A lot of her activity was from five years ago, and the only activity in that five years was for about a month every year. Alison assumed it was because she was in Afghanistan and couldn't update her profile or add any pictures. Emily's profile picture was from five years ago, she was in a blue cap and gown holding her high school diploma. Alison remembered that day like it was yesterday, and even remembered Emily receiving her diploma and posing for the picture. Alison had already received her diploma and was back in her seat when Emily went up, beaming the whole time she shook hands with the principal and the superintendent.

The rest of Emily's pictures were a few army pictures and some of her and her best friends that Alison also recognized. Emily was good friends with Hanna Marin, Aria Montgomery, and Spencer Hastings. Alison was friends with Spencer, which was the one of Emily's friends that she actually had a friendly relationship with.

Just as she was scrolling through Emily's photos which must've been from when she was a freshman in high school, her husband emerged from the bathroom with a toothbrush in his mouth and toothpaste on the side of his lips. His hair was wet from taking a shower, and Alison glanced up at him before quickly exiting out of Emily's Facebook profile.

At her feet, her old and beloved dog Pepe let out a deep breath and shifted slightly from his spot where he was curled up on the end of their bed. Rollins continued to brush his teeth as he glanced at Alison's old dog.

"Are you sure you want to keep your dog for much longer?" Rollins asked. "All he does is mope around all day."

Alison looked up from her spot on the right side of their bed, her eyebrows crinkling at what her husband said.

"Of course I want to keep him, I've had him since I was seventeen." Alison said, surprised with her husband's dislike for her dog. Alison knew Rollins wasn't a big fan of Pepe, mostly because Pepe couldn't do much anymore besides eat and sleep, but she didn't think he would want him to be put down.

"Ok and he's old and clearly dying. I can just get you a new puppy, one that will play fetch and go on walks with you like Pepe used to." Rollins said. "Isn't that what you want?"

"You don't get it." Alison said, shaking her head and looking back down at her computer.

"Of course I don't get it, Alison." Rollins said, going back into the bathroom and spitting into the sink before turning of the water. He reentered the bedroom and made his way towards his side of the bed, pushing back the sheets and getting under the covers. "You never tell me anything anymore."

"I tell you things." Alison protested.

"Not what goes up in here, sweetheart." he said, as he pointed to his head.

"Fine, what do you want to know?" Alison huffed, as she closed her laptop and placed it on her bedside table.

"I'll ask you when I think of something." he sighed, cracking his neck and adjusting himself in the pillows.

"Ok then." Alison said, looking at her husband as he closed his eyes.

Alison met her husband through her sister Cece when she was nineteen years old, although it was indirectly. Dr. Rollins and Dr. Gordon opened a psychiatric practice in Rosewood, the closest place her sister could go to talk to someone and receive the correct medication to help counteract what was going on. She met Rollins when she picked Cece up from one of her appointments. He was charming, attractive, and got Alison laughing within a few seconds of meeting him. Even though Rollins had a first name, in high school he was always called by his last name, so it sort of just stuck.

It wasn't long until they went on their first date and after a few more, they were steadily dating. Everything was great in Alison's life, a year later they got engaged and shortly after married. Rollins was older, thirteen years older to be exact, but he had his life together and seemed to care about Alison for who she was. But more recently, the feelings that she once had for her husband weren't the same.

"What do you think was up with that girl in the restaurant today?" Rollins asked, propping his head up on his arm to look at Alison.

"Which one? There were a lot of girls there." Alison said, looking at her husband. Although she knew exactly who he was talking about.

"The one who like freaked out towards the end." he said. "Do you know who she is?"

"No." Alison lied. "Never seen her before."

"Only wondering because you seemed to know her." he said.

"What?" Alison asked, raising her eyebrows.

"You waved at each other, I could only assume that meant you knew each other." he said. "Just because I was looking at my phone screen doesn't mean I'm totally blind Alison."

Alison sighed and closed her eyes, "She used to go to my high school, I just was being friendly. Is that a crime?"

"No, it's not." Rollins said. "Do you know what happened to her leg?"

"Well she came back from Afghanistan, so she probably got hurt over there. I didn't ask." Alison said, picking up her laptop again from the bedside table.

"So you have talked to her?" Rollins asked. "You used to be better at lying."

"Why are you prying?" she asked, his comment sparking anger within her. "It's not really any of our business."

"Honey, prying in people's lives _is_ my business. It's my job." Rollins smirked at Alison.

"Okay it is, but she's not one of your patients so I really don't think that you should be prying into sensitive matters of her life." Alison said.

"My mom wants us to come to their house for Christmas." Rollins said.

"Okay, what days?" Alison asked.

"That's the thing, she wants us a week before Christmas break starts for you." he said.

"A week? Babe, I can't just take off like you can." Alison sighed. "My students need me, I just can't throw them a substitute a week before break."

"Well I haven't seen my family for a long time, they don't live within driving distance like your family does." Rollins said.

"Than fine, go without me for a week. I'll take a plane to Vancouver once the break starts." Alison said, pulling up the Air Canada website to book a flight.

"Are you sure?" Rollins asked. "You know, that you don't want to just come with me?"

"Yeah it's fine." Alison said, entering in the information to book a flight in December.

"The house won't be too lonely?" Rollins joked.

"I'll have Pepe, I'll be fine." she said, booking the ticket for herself.

"Alright then," Rollins said, leaning forward to press a kiss to his wife's lips. "Would you be a dear and buy a ticket for me too?"

"For when?" Alison asked.

"The Sunday before Christmas, like the seventeenth I think?" he said, closing his eyes while pulling the covers up onto him. "Just think, we could drink champagne and snowmobile for the next two weeks and then watch the fireworks display on New Years."

"Because nothing says Merry Christmas like snow that's taller than you." Alison said sarcastically, booking Rollins flight and exiting out.

"You know it." Rollins said, turning off his light on his side of the bed. "Goodnight."

Instead of going to sleep like her husband, Alison stayed up and logged back onto her Facebook. Making sure that her husband's back was turned to her, she typed in Emily Fields on the search bar and pulled up her profile again.

Emily's profile picture of her graduating was easily her favorite photo of her. Her smile somehow made Alison want to smile, and Alison remembered how despite Emily being a shy girl, she always smiled when Emily did.

In the information of her Facebook profile, Alison is quick to learn more about Emily in a few short words.

 **Born on November 19th, 1993**

 **YGraduated Rosewood High School in 2012**

 **Currently a Combat Medic for the US Army (since 2012)**

Her birthday was soon, as in her 24th birthday was in eight days soon. Now that Emily had been reintroduced into her life, she couldn't seem to be able to stop trying to find out more about her.

The last photo she looked at of Emily was one from her senior year. She was at the Rosewood swimming pool with a towel wrapped around her body, smiling brightly at the camera with her goggles still on her face. She was holding up a gold medal, a smile from pure accomplishment on her face. A small smile creeped onto her face as she looked at the photo, Emily in her element. Water.

Alison exited out of the photo and scrolled back up to the top of her Facebook profile, hitting the "Friend Request" button before closing her laptop and going to sleep.

* * *

The Monday afternoon following the Rosewood students lunch block, the bell rang to signal the students to make their way to their next class. Alison was already in her classroom, opting not to go to the teacher's lounge for lunch and instead enter some grades into the gradebook on time. One thing Alison hated while she was in high school was her teachers being behind on grades and Alison was not going to be one of those teachers.

She finished the last of her salad before closing the tupperware lid to store in her hand bag. Her almost empty can of soda was still sitting near the keyboard of her computer, which would probably be finished in the next few minutes.

Soon students began filing in as they did every day, Alison didn't pay much attention since class didn't start for another two minutes. Quickly sending a text to her husband about her being in need of dog food for Pepe, she stored her phone in with the tupperware container before pulling the day's assignment out from the printer.

Looking up at the students coming in, she noticed someone in their desk chair that normally wasn't sitting in it at this time. It was a rarity for Olivia to be on time, and when she was she was just arriving a few seconds before the start of the class. Never was she full minutes early like she was now, and Alison watched her as she leaned over her desk to continue typing away on her phone.

On the first day Olivia came to her class, Alison thought Emily had somehow reversed her age clock and became sixteen again. She did a double take when Olivia walked in on the first day in clothes that she distinctly remembered Emily wearing back when they were in high school. The second Olivia sat down in an empty seat in the back of the class, Alison frantically dug for her class list. Looking over the list for Emily's name, she saw "Olivia Fields" listed instead. At first Alison thought Emily had a sister she never knew about, but when she thought back to their high school days she remembered Emily mentioning being an only child. It wasn't too long until she figured out that Olivia was Emily's cousin.

When the rest of the time for students to arrive was up, Alison turned on the SmartBoard which projected what she had on her computer onto a screen.

"Alright, it looks like everyone is here on time today." Alison pointed out, standing up from her desk with a stack of papers. "You know the drill, a mini quiz on last night's reading. Continue reading in your free reading book afterward, I'll collect the quiz when I check off that you did your homework."

Counting out the papers in fours, she passed them to the front desk of each row, who would take one and pass them behind. When all the quizzes were passed out she returned to her desk and picked up her gradebook so that she would be able to check off if each person did their homework. Waiting a few more minutes, she began at the row closer to her and made her way around.

"Misha, did you complete the reading response questions?" Alison asked, looking at Misha's desk for a sign of her homework.

Misha looked up from her completed quiz before starting to dig through her slightly unorganized backpack. "I know it's in here somewhere, Mrs. Rollins." she said.

"I'll come back, but please have it out by then." Alison said, taking the quiz from her but smiled slightly at her.

She continued around the room until she made it to Olivia's desk. Normally, Olivia would be struggling with completing the quiz, but when Alison approached her pencil was on her desk and her answers were neat and complete. Another first.

"Do you have your homework, Emil- I mean Olivia?" Alison said, shaking her head as she found Olivia's name in her grade book.

"Do I really look that much like her?" Olivia asked almost monotonously as she brought her completed homework questions into view for Alison.

"I'm sorry, but yes you do." Alison agreed. "Turning it around I see."

"Yeah well, Emily forced me to stay at the dining room table until I read and finished all of my homework. It's one of the cons of having her home, she has nothing better to do apparently." Olivia sighed.

"I think she's just looking out for you." Alison said, checking off that Olivia did her homework. "She just wants you to have a bright future like everyone else. Are you going to participate in the discussion today?"

Olivia shrugged, "I guess so."

After checking off all the homework, Alison opened up the powerpoint she made that brought up key ideas from the chapters they read for homework. The notes were mainly reference points for the students, since Alison knew the book like the back of her hand already.

"So from what you read, Pip seems to have this idea of what he thinks Estella is actually like compared to what others think of her. She's a manipulator and doesn't seem to return Pip's feelings, why do you guys feel he's still holding onto his feelings? As the books says he loved her, 'against reason, against peace, against promise.'" Alison asked.

Uria raised her hand first, making Alison quick to call on her to start the discussion.

"Well, Pip seems to be in way over his head about Estella. They spent years apart and yet he was still fantasizing about her and was unable to love anyone else like he loves her. When he was visiting Estella's mother, all she did was manipulate them and they were just kids back then. Being together again, I think the only reason he's still in love with Estella is because he's feeding into his younger self." she said.

Olivia was quick to butt in and only barely raise her hand slightly, "Actually, in my opinion, Pip's in love with Estella because he sees the good that no one else can in her. Behind her cold demeanour there must be something that Pip sees, not some flame from his childhood. He loved her against promise because he knows of the slim chance that he has of being with her. He loved her against reason because nearly everyone knew not to have feelings for her. And he loved her against peace because he knew he would never be able to fully rest if he didn't have her." Olivia explained.

"Those are both good points, does anyone else have anything to add to them?" Alison asked, not being able to help herself but smile at Olivia's display of effort.

After the discussion ended and Alison was showing a few clips about grammar in the 19th century, she took a peek at her phone to see if her husband replied to her text about Pepe's food.

 **Rollins: I get out of work at 6, pet store is closer to the school… I'll pick it up but I expect payment ;)**

But right underneath the notification of his text, she saw something that caught her interest more.

 **Emily Fields has accepted your Facebook friend request.**

* * *

To say Alison was exhausted after school on Wednesday was an understatement. She exited the school building with her handbag on her arm, holding her empty coffee thermos and phone in the other hand as she walked to the teacher's parking lot near the front of the school. As she approached her silver car, she dug through her bag to find her car keys. A small gust of cold wind blew through, causing the remaining turning leaves on the tree to rustle. Alison shivered slightly in her gray peacoat, happy to get into her car so she could turn up the heat. It was cold, but not cold enough for snow.

Hoping that she wouldn't fall asleep behind the wheel, she began to drive towards her house in the north part of Rosewood. Passing by coffee shops, Alison didn't stop until one in particular caught her eye. The Brew definitely had the best coffee in Rosewood, and at this rate Alison wasn't going to make it home without crashing her car. So instead of risking her life by continuing to drive home, she pulled into the parking lot of The Brew and exited her car.

The Brew smelt like coffee beans and some sort of gingerbread, making Alison feel instantly better as she took in the cozy atmosphere. It was comfortably warm inside, enough to make Alison remove her coat and hang it on a peg by the door. There were a few people inside, college students who were going to Hollis and came to Rosewood to study, small groups of girls, and an elderly couple sharing a gingerbread cookie.

Alison caught sight of someone towards one of the windows of The Brew, sitting by themselves with a mug of coffee while flipping through a Vogue magazine. Alison smiled slightly and got in line to get her usual coffee, a flat with with three sugars cubes. There was only one person in front of her, a guy who looked middle aged and smiled at Alison when he turned around with his coffee.

After getting her coffee, Alison made her way towards the small table that Emily was sitting at. Emily still hadn't lifted her head from reading the Vogue article until Alison placed her coffee down on the table for two and sat in the seat across from her.

"Hey you." Alison smiled, as Emily looked up.

"Oh, hey." Emily smiled slightly, her eyes glancing towards the door. She was wearing a cream colored sweater that hung off her shoulder slightly, and a similar colored beanie on her head.

"What's new in your life?" Alison asked, watching Emily take a sip of her coffee. "Your leg getting any better?"

"Well I get my stitches out soon, but my leg probably won't be completely healed until April." Emily sighed.

"Are you going back to the army once it heals?" Alison asked, keeping her eyes locked with Emily.

"Um, probably not immediately. I first have to do physical therapy to make sure I can still walk correctly and will be able to handle being back in Afghanistan. It could go either way really." Emily responded, setting her coffee down quietly.

"And what happens if you can't?" Alison asked.

"Well I'll probably be given another job within the army, one that I'll be able to do. They also could retire me, but I doubt that since I've only been in the army for five years." Emily shrugged.

"That's a pretty fancy contraption on your leg." Alison said, looking down at Emily's leg with the brace on it. It was black and had many straps, probably to make sure her leg was secure. "Where'd it break?"

"Um, well it broke in three places." Emily explained. She pointed to her knee, "It's fractured once in the patella, and two more times in the tibia."

Emily pointed two spots on her calf, one near on the shin and one close to her ankle. When Emily touched her braced leg, she barely even touched it all. She delicately touched her jeans with her fingertips, before returning her hand to where it was on the table.

"Wow, must hurt like a bitch." Alison said, taking a sip of her coffee.

"So, enough about me, what's happening in your life?" Emily asked, sighing slightly.

"Well you know, life of a teacher and all." Alison shrugged. "Grade papers and go home and grade more papers."

Emily laughed slightly, "Sounds pretty boring." she said, causing Alison to smile wider at the sound of Emily's laugh.

"That part is, but knowing you're helping people learn and grow really pays off." she explained. "You know Olivia told me that you actually forced her to do her homework."

"I did, she needs to have a bright future." Emily said, looking up as Alison felt someone come up behind her.

She rotated in her seat to look up at the person behind her, seeing Aria Montgomery five years older and for once, towering over her.

"Hey Em, sorry I'm late." Aria smiled at Emily. "Got held up at work."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Here I think this is your seat." Alison said, rising from her chair and picked up her coffee. Once she stood up, she was back to being taller than Aria.

"Oh it's not big deal, I'm glad someone talked to Emily in my absence." Aria smiled.

"Aria this is uh, Alison DiLaurentis. She used to go to high school with us." Emily said from her seat.

"I know, how could I forget Alison." Aria smiled, holding out her hand for Alison to shake.

"I get that a lot." Alison said, trying to prove to Aria that she wasn't the same person in high school by smiling brightly at her as she shook Aria's hand.

She turned to Emily, who seemed slightly uncomfortable with her interaction with Aria.

"I'm gonna go, I'll see you around Em." she said, giving her one last smile.

"Yeah, see you." Emily responded as Aria sat down in the chair that Alison previously occupied.

Alison made her way back towards the front of The Brew and took her coat off of the peg. Somehow she managed to pull on her coat while still balance her coffee in the other hand. She left the warm atmosphere of the coffee shop and into the cold November weather, instantly drinking more of her coffee so that she could keep warm inside.

Her phone rang just as she was approaching her car, and she pulled it out of her pocket to see who was calling her. On the screen displayed "Cece" and a photo of she and her sister smiling in Cape May from a few years ago. Quickly sliding her phone to answer the call, she brought her phone to her ear.

"Hey Cece!" Alison said, instantly smiling.

"Hey chica." Cece replied. "Staying out of trouble?"

"Of course, you know Rosewood, nothing goes on here." Alison sighed, opening her car and climbing in.

"Good, just checking in on my favorite little sister." Cece said.

Alison rolled her eyes playfully, "I'm your only little sister." she sighed.

"You never know." Cece laughed over the phone.

"Hey listen, I wanted to invite you over for dinner. Just us and Rollins, maybe on Thursday night if that works for you. I was going to make salmon if you were interested." Alison said, turning on her car to warm herself up.

"You know I can't pass up an opportunity to be with my sister." Cece said, and Alison could almost hear Cece smile through the phone.

"Alright that sounds good, I'll let Rollins know." Alison said, putting her free hand on the vent which was distributing hot air into the car. "I have a lot to tell you. A lot has happened in the past week."

"Sounds exciting, can't wait to hear!"

* * *

A few minutes after seven the sound of the doorbell rang through the house that Alison and her husband Rollins owned. Looking up from cutting the tomatoes for the salad that she was making, Alison placed the knife down on the cutting board and headed towards the front door of their house. Pepe had risen from his spot on the kitchen floor near Alison and barked a few times as he followed her slowly, as if to make sure that she heard the doorbell.

Alison quickly opened the large wood door to reveal her sister Cece behind, smiling brightly as Cece came into full view. Cece flashed a similar smile back to Alison before stepping forward to wrap her sister into a hug.

"Hey Ali D." Cece said into Alison's ear as they hugged. "I brought wine."

"Wow, best sister ever coming in strong." Alison smiled, letting going of Cece to allow them inside. "Rollins is watching the Eagles game but he'll probably join us for dinner if the game isn't too exciting."

"Oh right, I forgot how much he was a fan of football." Cece said, as they walked towards the kitchen of their house. She placed the bottle of red wine on the island where Alison was cutting tomatoes, and immediately bent over when she saw a very old Pepe walk slowly towards her, wagging his tail extremely fast as he approached Cece.

"Looks like someone has a favorite." Alison remarked, as she began cutting the rest of the tomatoes again.

"Well hello Pepe, someone's looking dapper in his new leather collar." Cece said in a baby voice, as Pepe laid down so that she could rub his stomach. Cece dropped the voice as she looked up at Alison, "How's he doing?"

"The vet removed the tumor on his stomach and gave me some medication to help with his larynx but he's really just been like this all the time." Alison remarked sadly as she put the cut up tomato into the salad bowl with onions, lettuce, and bits of carrot.

The oven beeped, signaling the salmon that was within was done. She stopped making the salad and went to take the cookie tray with the salmon on it out the oven, turning off the timer before turning back to Cece. A loud noise came from the living room that sounded like lots of cheering and they heard Rollins shout in excitement.

"Sounds like the Eagles got a touchdown." Cece remarked, patting Pepe on the head before straightening up.

Alison nodded as she placed the cookie tray down on the granite to cool, checking the timer for the asparagus.

"Well dinner is pretty much done, there's thirty seconds left on the asparagus." Alison said to sister.

"Great, I'm starving. Want me to bring the salad and wine in?" Cece asked, picking up the salad bowl.

"That would be great." Alison said, taking the salmon off the cookie tray and onto a serving plate. "I'll let Rollins know that dinner is ready."

After she finished putting salmon on a serving plate and took the asparagus out to place them onto a separate plate. Carrying both plates towards the dining room, she stopped at the open sliding doors to the living room where her husband back was to her as she watched the game on their flat screen TV.

"Hey, dinner's ready." Alison said.

"What?" Rollins asked, not turning his attention from the screen. "I'll be in soon."

Alison glanced at the score of the game before heading towards the remaining distance towards the dining room. Cece was already inside, opening the bottle of wine and pouring it into glasses.

"Don't pour any for Rollins, I don't know if he'll be joining us for dinner or not." Alison said, waving off Cece as she walked towards Rollins table setting with the bottle of wine.

"Interesting game huh." Cece remarked, setting the wine bottle down in the middle of the table as Alison began dishing out the salmon with mustard sauce, asparagus, and salad.

After they sat down and began to eat, Cece told Alison a story of a how she went to Ravenswood to look at houses since her apartment just wasn't cutting it out anymore. Dinner continued with much laughter until Rollins appeared towards the end of it.

He walked in, wearing a Philadelphia Eagles football jersey and holding his glass of whiskey.

"Hey, decided to join?" Alison asked, looking up at her husband. His hair was messy, unlike his normal combover he did for work.

"Uh yeah, actually I was just wondering if I could bring a plate in. The game is pretty interesting tonight." he said, picking up his plate and began scooping salmon and onto his plate.

"They were leading 35 to 7 when I went in during the halftime, think it's pretty obvious they're going to win." Alison remarked as her husband opened up their alcohol cabinet and pulled out a bottle of whiskey.

"Yeah well it is interesting ok?" Rollins said, a little louder than his normal tone. "It was your fault for making this dinner on a game night."

Alison's jaw hardened as she stared at her husband's back, and Cece noticed her sister's telltale signs of anger. Although she was better at controlling her anger than she used to be, some things just threw Alison over.

"I think Alison just wants to spend some family time together." Cece spoke for Alison in a much nicer way than Alison would've had she opened her mouth. "And hi, by the way."

"Hey." Rollins replied, putting the alcohol back in the cabinet. "I'm going to go back to the living room."

He picked up his plate and glass of whiskey, heading towards the exit of the dining room.

"You both can join me you know!" he called as he left.

Dinner continued in silence for a few more minutes as Alison tried to cool off and Cece eyed her sister occasionally.

"So, uh, what was it that you wanted to tell me?" Cece asked, as Alison finished her dinner. "You said a lot has happened in the past week or whatever."

"Oh right," Alison said. "let's go talk about that outside on the deck. Let me just take care of the plates."

Cece helped Alison clear off the table and put the dishes in the dishwasher despite Alison saying that she didn't need the help. Pouring the rest of the bottle of wine into their glasses, both girls went out the back door to the deck.

It was a chilly night, but neither girl seemed to mind the cold with some alcohol in their systems. Both could see their breath contrast against the dark sky as they leaned against the railing of the wooden deck with their wine glasses in their hands hanging over the edge.

"So, fill me in." Cece said, taking a sip of her wine.

"So, I met someone from high school who I haven't seen in five years like last week." Alison said, glancing at her sister.

"Ooooh, significance?" Cece asked. "Who was it?"

"Uh, do you know Emily Fie-"

"Oh my God, you saw Americano!" Cece cut Alison off.

"Americano?" Alison asked in confusion.

"Yeah, that's my nickname for her." Cece explained.

"Oh, so you know her?"

"She used to work at The Brew in her senior year. Whenever she drank coffee, she would always have an Americano." Cece said, smiling the whole time. "How is she? I miss her so much, she was always great to talk to."

"Well uh, she's got a broken leg." Alison said.

"Oh I already knew that." Cece said, waving her off as she took another sip of her wine.

"You did?" Alison asked.

"Shit travels quickly in Rosewood, you would know." Cece smirked as she watched Alison take a sip of wine. "Remember the days in high school when you had a giant secret crush on her? Because I do."

"You knew I had a secret crush on her and you didn't tell me she worked at The Brew!" Alison gasped. "Some sister."

"Alison, you were dating Noel Kahn, and she was dating some girl named Kelsey and then that swim girl Paige. It wouldn't have worked out." Cece said.

"She dated a girl named Kelsey?" Alison frowned. "Why didn't I know this?"

"I don't know, why are you asking me?" Cece asked.

Alison thought over the new information she learned about Emily while taking another sip of wine.

"So, you doing anything fun with Rollins soon?" Cece asked. "Or have you guys become permanent home bodies."

Alison sighed, "Well he wants to go to Vancouver for Christmas break."

"That's something!" Cece nodded.

"Yeah but he wants to leave a week before Christmas break starts for me." Alison said.

"Oh, so are you guys going after it starts?" Cece asked.

"Well I am, he's leaving the week before." Alison explained. "He wasn't really up to staying behind any longer than he had to."

"Yikes." Cece said, sipping more of her wine. "Anything else?"

"Not really, he's too invested in figuring out his patient's problems than anything else." Alison said, chuckling slightly. "I used to think that was pretty heroic."

"Well Rollins was McDreamy in one package, I don't blame ya honey." Cece shrugged. "At least you got Thanksgiving with the whole DiLaurentis family to look forward to."

"What type of girl do you think Jason's going to bring to dinner this time?" Alison asked, smirking to herself.

"Hmm, well last year the girl was definitely on drugs and the year before that it was some girl who had a tattoo of a pickle on her wrist." Cece smiled as they both remembered Jason's girlfriend history. "She was a nice girl though."

"You know what you guys should do to get the fun back in your lives?" Cece suggested.

"What?" Alison asked. "Humor me."

"A party." Cece smirked.

"A party?"

"You heard me. Invite your friends, invite his friends, invite me, and especially invite Emily." Cece said.

"Why especially Emily?" Alison asked. "You know I'm married."

"Who said anything about Emily being there for your benefit? I want to reconnect with my favorite barista." Cece said. "You were right, she is a real hottie. I bet she's got that whole, 'hot wounded soldier who's looking for love with the girl that gets her' thing going on."

Alison laughed slightly, "I'm sure."

"So will you have the party?" Cece asked, hopefully.

"I'll talk to Rollins about it." Alison nodded.

"Just don't have it on football Thursday, or he's just going to hang out in front of the TV the whole time."

* * *

On Saturday, the day before Emily's 24th birthday, Alison found herself buying things for a gift basket for Emily. She already had bought different types of cookies, bath salts for relaxation, a new pair of knit gloves since she noticed Emily's were wearing out from the last time she saw her, hot chocolate mix, and now she was picking up something special from within a jewellery store.

After placing everything in a cardboard box and wrapping it in some colorful birthday wrapping paper, Alison decided to bring Emily her presents over now since she wouldn't be seeing Emily on her birthday. She still remembered Emily's address since Emily's friends had convinced her to have a party or two once back in their high school days at her house.

Making sure her scarf was snuggly around her neck, she parked on the street right by Emily's house and got out with the cardboard box under her arm. Crossing the street, she looked at the green house and noticed how cosy it looked. It was already starting to get dark outside at five o'clock, and the living room light of Emily's house was shining brightly through the windows.

Alison climbed the porch steps and approached the front door, ringing the doorbell while praying Emily was home.

The person who opened the door wasn't Emily, but who it was certainly looked a lot like her.

"Mrs. Rollins?" Olivia asked, frowning. "Did I do that bad on your test or something?"

Alison laughed slightly, "No, you're fine. I actually was wondering if Emily was home."

"Duh, she barely ever leaves the house since her parents are always at work and can't drive her everywhere." Olivia said. "Let me get her."

Instead of going to get Emily, Olivia just turned around towards the living room.

"Hey, Em?" she called.

"What?" Emily responded, sounding a bit distant and far away.

"There's a friend here for you with a large package!" Olivia shouted back.

"If it's Hanna I told her to wait until my party tomorrow!" Emily called.

"It's not! You might want to get over here." Olivia called, before turning back to say something to Alison. "Why don't you come on in Mrs. Rollins."

Olivia stepped inside to allow her English teacher to enter, shutting the door behind her.

"If you're staying, you can hang your coat on the pegs right there." Olivia said casually.

"Thanks." Alison smiled, feeling slightly awkward seeing one of her students outside of the classroom.

She heard the sound of crutches getting louder and as she hung her coat on the peg, Emily entered the front hallway of her house.

"Ali?" she asked, shocked to see her in her house. "I didn't know you were stopping by."

"Yeah me either, but I got you something. I would've waited until your actual birthday, but I figured I wouldn't be seeing you." Alison said, holding out the cardboard box.

"You didn't have to get me anything." Emily said. "It's not like I'm 21 and can legally drink or something."

"Yeah well, I wanted to do something nice for you. So just accept what's in the box." Alison said.

"Should I open it now or wait until tomorrow?" Emily asked, not taking the box from Alison since she didn't have any free hands.

"Well, I probably should explain to you why I got these gifts so I guess it should be now." Alison suggested.

"Oh right, we can open them in the living room." Emily said. "Follow me."

Alison recognized the living room, although she had always been in it when the couches were moved to the side of the room and most of the furniture had been cleared out to make a dance floor.

The living room had a cozy atmosphere, the electric fireplace was on and blowing hot air into the living room. There was a sectional facing a large television, and an armchair with remotes and the daily paper that looked like it was most sat in by her father. There was a basket of laundry on the end of the sectional, some of the clothes were folded while the remainder of the clothes were still in a heap in the basket.

"Sorry, I was doing laundry when you stopped by." Emily explained, as she sat down on the other side of the sectional.

Alison sat down next to her and placed the box on the coffee table. Olivia had disappeared once Emily came into view.

Alison pushed the box slightly towards Emily, nodding her head. "Open it."

Emily reached a hand out and found the edge of the wrapping paper, slowly removing the tape to tear it off.

"Wow, you're no fun at taking off wrapping paper." Alison remarked,

"I don't want to be rude." Emily replied.

"You're being rude by being slow. Come on, tear it off."

Smirking slightly, Emily tugged harshly and ripped the paper off the box. Alison smiled as Emily continued to rip the rest of the paper off of the box, revealing the unsealed cardboard box. After pushing away the wrapping paper, she lifted the flaps of the box to reveal her many presents.

"Okay, you really didn't have to do this." Emily said, lifting out the blue bath salts.

"The bath salts are really good, I use them sometimes. It's this special smell that's supposed to relax your body and joints." Alison said, as Emily examined the jar and placed it on the coffee table.

"You know I needed new gloves." Emily said, taking out the maroon pair that Alison had gotten her.

"I know. That's why I got you them." Alison pointed out, as Emily placed the gloves down next to the bath salts.

Emily continued to find her presents, the cookies and the hot cocoa mix, a few bags of candy that Alison knew Emily liked, until finally Emily found the black long box at the bottom.

"What's this?" Emily asked, raising her eyebrows slightly as she pulled the box out.

"What does it look like dummy?" Alison smiled, as Emily opened the lid.

"Woah." Emily remarked, looking down at the gold 'Emily' necklace that Alison had got her. It was plated with 18 Karat gold, and had a small gold chain around it. "You know I already wear a necklace with my name on it anyway."

"Yeah, well I'm pretty sure this necklace is a lot prettier than a dog tag." Alison pointed out.

"You're right on that one, Ali D." Emily smiled, taking the necklace out of the box. "Please tell me you didn't spend a lot of money on this."

"I didn't." Alison lied.

"Ali." Emily almost whined. "You know I can't accept this."

"How can you tell if I'm lying?" Alison asked, a smile teasing her lips.

"Your lips may tell one thing but your eyes tell all." Emily said, pointing at Alison's eyes.

"Just take the damn necklace before I choke you with it." Alison threatened although she didn't mean it.

"Ouch, I guess I'm going to have to accept it then." Emily said, handing Alison the necklace. "At least help me put it on though."

Alison smiled, taking the necklace from Emily's fingers. Emily rotated in her spot on the couch and lifted up her hair in both her hands. Alison cleared her throat and reached through the hole between Emily's arm and neck so that she could grab one end of the necklace with the other hand.

She fumbled quite a bit as she tried to hook Emily's necklace together, and Emily teased her about having butterfingers.

"The chain's really small." Alison said, waving off Emily's teasing.

When she finally hooked the necklace around Emily's neck, Emily let go of her hair and let it flow back over her shoulders.

"How does it look?" she asked, turning back to Alison with a bright smile on her face.

"It looks good." Alison commented, wondering why she could feel her heartbeat in her chest slightly.

Smiling, Emily looked back over her gifts as Alison glanced around the living room. She noticed Emily's army combat jacket hidden behind the basket of laundry that she didn't notice before. Smirking, she stood up and walked towards it.

"Wow, nice." Alison said, picking it up. The jacket was a bit heavier than Alison expected, and she saw the name 'Fields' written on the chest. On the arm was the American flag and on the other side was what looked like layers of a triangle but it told what level Emily was in the army.

Sliding her arms into the jacket arm sleeves, she pulled the jacket on and turned to face Emily. The jacket felt slightly heavy on her shoulders, but it fit her almost perfectly since she and Emily were close to the same body proportions.

"Having fun with that?" Emily asked, smiling at Ali from where she sat.

"I feel like I could save the world in this, why don't you wear this all the time?" Alison asked, buttoning the jacket up. "I could live in this jacket, no more clothes for me."

"Yeah I had to wash it specially, I'm glad you like it." Emily said as Alison playfully hid behind the coffee table.

"I'm camouflaged, can you see me?" she asked.

"Yes, I can see you." Emily said, shaking her hand at Alison's playfulness.

Straightening back up, Alison glanced at the side table by the sectional with a few photos on them. She walked over and picked one up, looking at the picture of Emily and her dad on a carousel. Emily had to be only four, and she looked extremely adorable in her overalls. If Alison ever had kids, she would want them to look like Emily did.

"Hey, was this at the Philadelphia zoo?" Alison asked.

"Yeah, you recognize it?" Emily asked, as Alison sat down next to her still in Emily's army jacket.

"My dad took me and my brother and sister on it when I was like seven." Alison said.

"Your sister's Cece right?" Emily asked, furrowing her eyebrows. "And your brother's name is...Jake?"

"Jason, and yeah Cece is my sister." Alison nodded. "Back then though she was Charlie."

"Right, I think your sister mentioned something about that. I didn't really think it was my place to ask though, she's a sweet girl." Emily said, smiling at Alison.

"Yeah, she's a great sister." Alison agreed, placing the photo back on the side table. She began to take off Emily's army jacket, folding it and putting neatly back on the laundry basket. "I probably should get going, I still have to stop at the grocery store to pick up groceries."

"Oh, sorry I shouldn't have kept you." Emily said, standing up.

"No it's fine, even though we only spent like ten minutes together I had fun. We should do it again sometime." Alison smiled as Emily made her way towards her.

"After getting me all this great birthday stuff, I think someone deserves a big hug." Emily said, opening her arms while trying to balance without her crutches.

Smiling widely, Alison stepped forward and wrapped her arms tightly around Emily for the first time. Her high school self probably just rolled over and died of contentment, but Alison kept her cool. Her chin was on Emily's shoulder, and she was hit with the smell of Emily quite strongly.

"Oh shit, I'm falling." Emily said, and began pulling backwards.

Neither of them letting go, they both collapsed onto the couch with Alison falling onto of Emily. Trying to prevent her weight from falling onto Emily's broken leg, she unwrapped one of her arms and caught most of her weight by pressing her hand onto the couch next to Emily's side. With her other arm still wrapped around Emily's middle, both girls began to laugh with no want to get up.

"Guess I need my crutches to balance." Emily said casually, her breath hitting Alison's face as Alison's gold locks fell in front of her.

"Wow Em, your balance really is shit now." Alison teased. "And to think, you were the only one in our gym class to walk the full length of the balance beam in freshman year."

"Hey, I can't help the fact that I don't have use of one of my legs." Emily laughed, Emily's minty breath continuing to his Alison's face.

"I should probably go." Alison said, starting to carefully get up from where she lay on top of Emily.

"I would show you out, but I really don't feel like falling again. I don't have Life Alert, and Olivia's practically deaf to all noises with her headphones on." Emily said.

"Right. Hey listen, my husband and I are having a small party at our place on Tuesday. Nothing too big, like twenty people at the most. I was wondering if you wanted to go, my sister really wanted to see you." Alison said, including how Cece wanted to see Emily to play off the face Alison really wanted Emily to go.

"Tuesday? Uh, yeah. I can probably make it." Emily nodded.

"Here, let me give you my number so I can text you the details." Alison said, as she pulled on her coat.

"How about I give you my number since I barely carry my phone on me." Emily said.

"You don't use your phone?" Alison asked, pulling out her own.

"I never feel the need to, I don't get many texts or anything." Emily shrugged. "I only go on Facebook sometimes, but all people do is brag."

"Hmph, well consider me your new texting buddy Emily Fields." Alison said, going into the Contacts app and handing her phone over to Emily.

Emily typed her number in and saved the contact, handing her phone back to Alison.

"Well, have a happy birthday Emily." Alison smiled. "Can't wait to see you again."

* * *

 **your reviews make my life and really help my motivation! thank you so much and keep it up!**

 **i was nervous about writing again since i haven't in almost a year :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**thank you for the reviews, but please, to the person leaving me the same review twice an hour, I ask you to please refrain to only posting one per chapter. thank you.**

 **also note, i'm starting school again so i won't be able to update as frequently as i have been. school is a top priority for me.**

* * *

On Sunday night, Emily sat on her bed trying to decide on what she was going to wear to the small party in honor of her turning twenty-four. She didn't feel any different now being 24, she felt the same as yesterday. It was the same every year, she always felt the same. People always made a big deal about birthdays, and Emily always thought you were supposed to feel different when you turned a year older.

Even though her friends were due to show up in about ten minutes, Emily still sat on her bed with her bathrobe wrapped around her body. Her hair and makeup was done, but the outfit laying on her bed didn't seem right. Standing up from her bed while trying to keep her balance, she pulled out a maroon sweater and dark colored jeans instead. She sat back down and began carefully putting on her clothes, sliding her leg brace on after it.

Checking herself in the mirror of her bedroom, Emily glanced briefly to the side to examine her bookshelf. She had already reread a few of the books that were stored on the shelves, mostly collecting dust in the last five years. Looking at the top shelf, four thick and long books stood, each in a royal blue. Written on the side of the binding was, "Rosewood High Yearbook" with the corresponding year. There was one yearbook for each of the years that Emily attended Rosewood High, she hadn't touched them in years.

Getting up from her bed, she hopped on one leg over to her bookshelf and pulled all four of the books down from their shelf before making her way back to the bed. Starting with the one from her freshman year, which was now nine years old, she opened to the inside cover. Signatures and messages in different colored pens and markers were covered on the inside of the yearbook.

Emily read through a few of them, looking at Toby's horrible scrawl which he still had as he tried to write a barely legible message to "Em Dog". Next to Toby's in sparkly pink gel pen was a signature signed by "Ali D." Emily read her message, it was short and simple but wished her a good summer. Flipping through the pages of the yearbook, she found the freshman yearbook photos. Avoiding her own, she found Alison's photo. If there was one thing that everyone could agree on about Alison, it was the fact that she still looked exactly the same nine years ago. Sure she did look older now, but at the same time she still looked fifteen years old.

Closing her freshman yearbook, she opened the sophomore yearbook. She searched the inside cover for Alison's signature but found none. Trying to remember why Alison never signed her yearbook in sophomore year, she remembered Alison didn't go to the last day of school. Her family had already left for their summer home in New Jersey, a summer town called Cape May. Emily glanced briefly yet again at Alison's yearbook photo, her award winning smile causing her faint dimples to become visible, and made her blue eyes sparkle.

"Emily! Someone's here! It looks like Spencer!" she heard her mom call from the bottom of the stairs.

Snapping her sophomore yearbook closed, Emily grabbed her crutches and rose from her bed. Leaving them behind to look at later, Emily left her bedroom and made her way towards the stairs.

To get down the stairs faster, Emily sat down on her butt and slid down the stairs one at a time at a quicker rate. By the time she reached the bottom and propped herself back up on her crutches, her mom was opening the door to allow her friend Spencer inside.

Spencer was wrapped warmly in a black wool coat that ended passed her waist. Her cheeks were slightly red from the cold, and her breath fogged as she smiled at Emily from the doorstep. She was carrying a large gold wrapped present in her arms, with a plate of brownies wrapped in plastic wrap on top.

"Hey!" she said brightly, her brown eyes lighting up as she stepped through the threshold of the house. "Happy birthday!"

"Spencer!" Emily smiled. "It's so good to see you!"

"I can't believe I'm the last person to actually see you it seems." Spencer remarked, letting Pam take the present from her arms. "Can I give you a hug or will you fall over?"

"I'll let you know if I start to lose my balance." Emily said. "Come here and give me a hug Hastings."

Spencer quickly wrapped her arms around Emily tightly, Spencer was always the best hugger of her three friends. Coming in right behind her, Hanna entered in a similar coat but in a cream color.

"Did I interrupt a little Spemily reunion or something?" Hanna laughed, carrying a large present wrapped in navy blue paper. "Happy birthday Em."

Releasing Spencer from her grasp, Emily quickly wrapped her free arm around Hanna to pull her into a hug.

"If you don't mind, can we close the door before we let all the cold air in?" Pam requested politely, taking the present from Hanna.

"Of course, Mrs. Fields." Hanna said, closing the door behind her. "Aria here yet?"

"Oh you know Aria, always a little late." Spencer said.

"Do you guys want to come into the kitchen while we wait for her?" Emily asked, motioning to the kitchen behind her. "There's wine but I bet my mom has other things if you prefer."

After taking off their coats, Spencer and Hanna followed Emily into the kitchen. Emily quickly moved to sit down on one of the barstools by the island, her arms already hurting from being on her feet the whole day.

"Do you want a glass Emily?" Spencer asked, grabbing the bottle of wine that was sitting on island counter and the bottle opener.

"Uh, no. I'm on a bunch of meds with my leg and all, and I've already sort of witnessed what happens when you mix pain medication with alcohol." Emily said, glancing at Hanna who had a small look of relief on her face.

Spencer poured she and Hanna a glass of wine, talking to Pam as Emily's mom prepared dinner. Hanna leaned on the island, propping herself up on her elbows as she sipped her wine.

"After four years of having the same haircut in high school, I'm surprised you got bangs Spenc." Hanna remarked, sipping her wine.

"Yeah well, I wanted change. I can't look like a high school student for the rest of my life." Spencer said, sitting down on the barstool next to Emily.

The front door opened again, with no knock this time. Emily could see the front door from where she sat in the kitchen, and leaned to the left slightly to see who entered.

"Sorry I'm late!" Aria called, holding her present for Emily. She waved slightly at the girls as she began taking off her coat. "Traffic."

"On a Sunday night Aria?" Spencer asked. "Get in here, I'm pouring you a glass of wine."

Aria entered the kitchen and smiled brightly as she came behind Emily to give her a hug. "Happy birthday you." she said. "Now not all of us are twenty-three."

"This is nice, just the four of us. None of our significant others here, it's just us." Hanna remarked. "Just like the good old days."

Emily sipped her water, "Same as it never was. If I remember we were all dating someone in high school."

Hanna shushed Emily, "Don't ruin the moment, Em."

The girls continued to chat as they ate cheese and crackers, talking about their lives now that they were out of high school. They were laughing pretty hardly at Hanna's encounter with her old science teacher at the grocery store earlier that day, when the front door opened and Emily's father entered.

He had a maroon hat on over his head, a similar scarf wrapped around his neck, and a brown coat.

"Pretty sure it's cold enough to snow out there." he said, kicking off his boots and setting down his briefcase.

"Think it'll snow before Thanksgiving?" Aria asked, turning back to the girls.

"Doubt it." Spencer said. "Remember when we would place bets on when we thought the first snow would be?"

"Yes Spencer, that's exactly why I'm bringing it up." Aria said. "I want to bet on when it's going to snow, just like the good old days."

"How much did we used to bet? Like five dollars?" Hanna asked.

"Hey it was pretty fun if I remember." Emily pointed out. "We literally would try to convince the other that a piece of dust was snow so that we could win."

"Alright, alright. Place your bets right here, I'll type them in on my phone." Spencer said, pulling out her iPhone. "How much are we each betting?"

"Five dollars." Emily said.

"No! We were such amateurs!" Hanna rolled her eyes. "I think it should be fifty."

"Fifty dollars? Are you nuts Hanna?" Aria's mouth dropped open. "I'm only putting in ten."

"Yeah Hanna, no way am I doing fifty." Emily said.

Hanna rolled her eyes again, "Fine, but when you guys complain that you didn't win that much, don't complain to me."

"Right, so ten dollars. Emily when do you think it's going to snow?" Spencer asked.

"The first week of December." Emily said, watching Spencer type it in.

"Hanna?" Spencer asked.

"The week after Thanksgiving." Hanna said, sipping her wine. "You bitches watch."

"I want the week before Thanksgiving." Aria said. "Come on I have the faith."

"I'm going for December 10th." Spencer said.

"Why so specific?" Aria asked, her eyebrows crinkling.

"To make it harder since I won every year back in high school." Spencer said.

They continued to chat more as Emily's dad came into the kitchen to wish her a happy birthday and kiss her on the forehead.

"Alright ladies, I think dinner is ready. I made steak with potatoes and asparagus." Emily's mom said, turning off the stove.

"It smells delicious Mrs. Fields." Spencer remarked, grabbing one of the plates that was sitting on the table.

The girls serve themselves and made their way into the dining room of Emily's house.

"So where's Miss Olivia Fields?" Spencer asked, as they sat down to eat. Her parents decided that they would leave Emily and her friends alone for her birthday.

"Oh I think she's at one of her friends houses. She's supposed to be home soon since she has school tomorrow." Emily shrugged, taking a bite of her steak.

"You're mom makes the best food, why don't I just live with you for the rest of my life?" Hanna groaned.

"You know you're always welcome to come over with Caleb." Emily smiled.

They continued talking, the bottles of wine the other three girls were drinking were making them louder than usual.

"So Emily, see anyone special since you've been back?" Spencer asked, bumping her arm into Emily's side.

"What?" Emily asked, smiling slightly.

"Which Rosewood bachelorette do you have your eyes on? Or is it the other way around?" Spencer asked.

Emily let out a breathy laugh, "There's no one." she lied.

"Oh really?" Aria asked in a sing song voice. "Somehow I don't believe that."

"No really, I don't like any non-taken woman in Rosewood." Emily said. "Is it that hard to believe?"

They finished their dinner and brought their plates over, already arguing over who would give Emily her present first. In the end, Hanna was the one who got to go first and set her present down in front of Emily as they ate her chocolate birthday cake.

"I wonder what's inside." Emily said sarcastically, shaking the box. There was a heavy clunking coming from inside, and from the way the box was shaped, she knew what was inside.

Ripping back the paper a lot faster than she did with Alison's present, she removed the navy blue paper to reveal a shoe box.

"How did I guess?" Emily smirked, opening the lid to reveal a pair of black ankle boots with a heel. "You always get me the latest fashion."

"Do you like them?" Hanna asked. "They also came in a cream color, but I figured that black was more your color."

"Well you're right there." Emily said, moving to give Hanna's hand a squeeze from across the table. "Thanks Han."

"Okay, my turn." Aria said, pulling her present out. It was small enough to fit in both of her hands as she passed the pink wrapped box over to Emily.

Emily took the box from her hands and tore back the wrapping paper. Underneath the wrapping paper was a dark brown wood box. It smelt faintly old, like something you would find in your grandmother's house. Taking the rest of the wrapping paper off of the box, Emily realized the box had a latch on the top. Opening the latch and lifting the lid to the box, a tiny ballerina sprang up from the box and began rotating in a circle to a music box version of "Danny Boy".

"I got it at the vintage store here in Rosewood." Aria explained as the ballerina slowly danced in a circle. "It was made in Ireland in the early 1900's."

"Wow Aria, this is really beautiful." Emily said, looking at the faded portrait of the Cliffs of Moher. "Is this handpainted?"

"I think so." Aria nodded. "I'm glad you like it, you can wind the music box in the back."

"Don't think I'm going to be able to beat that, but here." Spencer said, lifting her box onto the table as Emily took a bite of her cake and placed Aria's present to the side.

The large box in front of Emily looked rather intimidating, but she ripped the gold paper off none the less. Underneath was a cardboard box, which she opened the flaps to easily. Having to stand up to see what was inside, Emily saw stacks and stacks of paperback books inside the box. At the top of the pile that was visible to Emily was, "Catcher in the Rye" and "Of Mice and Men."

"They're all classics that I thought you would like." Spencer said, as Emily began taking out books to view the titles. "It's for something to do, you know since you have a lot of time on your hands now."

Emily pulled out two more books, "Flipped" and "Great Expectations." She smiled at the Great Expectations book in her hand, glad she didn't have to keep stealing Olivia's.

"This is all great stuff." Emily said, sitting back on the chair as she started to lose her balance. "Thank you Spencer."

It was late by the time the girls decided to go home, each taking decent sized pieces of leftover cake home with them. Emily hugged each girl tightly, thanking them for coming and spending time with her. Hanna was the last to hug Emily, giving her an extra tight hug and rocked slightly. When they broke apart, Hanna was frowning.

"What?" Emily asked.

"Where did you get that?" Hanna asked, pointing to Emily's neck.

Emily tried to look down, realizing her Emily necklace was clearly visible. "Oh, I got it yesterday. It's better than wearing dog tags, you know?"

"Yeah…" Hanna said, though she didn't sound convinced. "Good night Em."

* * *

On Tuesday evening, Emily approached the front door to Alison's house. She could hear people on the other side, talking and laughing. Emily sighed as she took in the house. It was a fairly bigger than her own, and was light gray in color. The shutters were dark blue to match the front door of the house, everything was almost too perfect and too big for just two people to live in.

Opening the front door, Emily made her way inside and closed the door behind her. The people talking and laughing got louder, making Emily already start to feel uncomfortable. She doubted if she should've gone to Alison's house, but remembered that Cece wanted to see her.

"Hey! You made it!"

Emily turned her head to see a woman with blonde hair step into the front hallway with a bright smile on her face. Emily instantly beamed upon recognizing the girl, opening her arms as the blonde practically ran her over.

"Hey Americano!" Cece said, hugging Emily tightly. "It's so good to see you!"

"Same to you Cece!" Emily smiled wider. Tipping over slightly, Emily pulled back so that she was able to steady herself. Cece, realizing Emily's instability, let got but held onto her forearms to help Emily balance herself. "Thanks."

"So how you been Fields?" Cece asked. "Can I get you a drink?"

"No I'm on antidepressants and painkillers, alcohol would mess with that." Emily said, shaking her head.

"Well duh, I'm not stupid Emily. I didn't mean an alcoholic beverage chill. I'm on them too, the antidepressants at least." Cece said, pointing to the her red cup that was in her hand. "Apple juice is the way to go."

"Apple juice?" Emily asked, smiling as she took Cece's red cup to look inside. "Why's it fizzing?"

"Because I put Sprite in it." Cece said. "Go ahead and take a sip."

Emily took a small sip before handing the cup back to Cece. Cece raised her eyebrows and smirked at Emily in a manner that looked a lot like a look Alison had given her before. Cece's blue eyes twinkled the same way as Alison's did, and Emily noticed their similar chin that she never noticed before.

"It's good." Emily smiled politely.

"Beats any alcoholic beverage you'll have." Cece said proudly. "Come with me, come meet some people. I'm sure Alison will be beyond happy to know that you've arrived."

"Uh yeah, speaking of Alison, I need to give her this." Emily said, reaching into her back pocket and pulled out a small rectangular box.

"What's inside?" Cece asked, taking the box from her to lift the lid. "Ah, a Paris charm bracelet. She'll love it."

"Think so?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, anything Paris finds a special place in her heart. And apparently you have too, she won't shut up about you." Cece said, closing the box to hand back to Emily.

"Really?" Emily asked, feeling more happy than normal.

"Really. So what's the occasion that you're giving her this charm bracelet?" Cece asked. "It's not her birthday until June."

"Oh, uh, well it was my birthday on Sunday and she gave me this necklace that was like really expensive," Emily said, pulling the necklace out from its place underneath her shirt. "I saw she already had one of her own, and I just felt like I needed to get her one. You know?"

Cece smiled, "Sure. Now come on, I can give you a little house tour since Alison's busy."

Emily followed Cece through Alison's house, making their way towards the kitchen which broke off into a smaller dining room. People were here and there along the kitchen and kitchen table, they all seemed to stare at Emily as she made her way into the kitchen. Among the people, Emily spotted Alison talking animately to another couple. A man had his arm around her shoulders, a drink in his hand. Emily recognized him as the man at The Radley, and assumed it was her husband.

"Here, I'll make you a drink." Cece said, opening Alison's fridge to pull out the apple juice. "This is her kitchen if you haven't realized."

Emily placed her hand on the shiny granite countertop, looking at how high tech everything in the kitchen seemed.

"It's nice." Emily said, looking up at Cece who was looking back at her with a 'DiLaurentis smirk' on her face.

"Yeah everything in their house is like that." Cece said. "Her husband likes the best of the best."

Emily took the red cup from Cece when Cece was done making her drink, turning her attention to the tapping of claws against hardwood floor. Coming into view was a very old dog, and Emily smiled slightly before putting her cup down on the table.

"Is this Pepe?" Emily asked, bending down while keeping her left leg straight.

"Yeah that's old Pepe. Don't know how he's still sticking around." Cece sighed. "You know him from before?"

"Uh yeah, he was at the senior picnic. Ali's dad was on grill duty, and he brought Pepe." Emily said, as Pepe laid down at Emily's feet so that she could pet him.

"Wow, looks like he likes you more than he likes me." Cece smiled. "New fan favorite. Pepe approves."

"Who's a good boy?" Emily asked Pepe in a baby voice. "Oh you're so soft and you smell really good."

"Yeah Pepe is pretty much Ali's child." Cece said, coming to kneel down next to Emily. "Ever since we got him from the shelter when she was seventeen. She always wanted a dog, my mom was never big on pets."

"He's adorable." Emily said, as Pepe's tail hit the hardwood floor loudly.

"Hey you two."

Emily and Cece looked up simultaneously to see Alison looking down at them with a sweet smile on her face.

"Oh hey." Emily said, her mouth hanging slightly open at the sight before her. To say Alison was looking good was an understatement, she had a hot pink top on and tight jeans that Emily had never seen her in. Then again, all the times Emily saw Alison she was in her teaching clothes or wrapped up for the cold.

"I was wondering when you would show up." Alison said, as Emily straightened up. "I'm glad you made it."

"Uh yeah I-" Emily stuttered. She was unable to finish because Alison had stepped forward and wrapped her arms snugly around Emily's middle, and Emily tried her best to hug back.

"I figured out how to hug you with your crutches." Alison said, pulling her back.

"Yeah, yeah you did." Emily said, picking up her red cup from the table. When Emily said Spencer was the best hugger, she was wrong, Alison had definitely just dethroned Spencer.

"I see Cece hooked you up with something to drink." Alison said, casually taking the cup from Emily's hand. "What is it?"

"Just apple juice and Sprite." Emily said, watching as Alison's ruby lips placed themselves on Emily's red cup to take a sip.

"It's good, Cece's a master at the non-alcoholic beverages." Alison said, winking at her sister.

Was Alison acting different, or was Emily just noticing more things that she did? Did Alison wink and smirk a lot, and did she always wear red lipstick? Whatever the reason was, Emily couldn't keep her eyes off her.

"Well, I'll leave you two guys to chat." Cece said, and Emily thought she saw her mutter something about 'sexual tension'. But then again, Emily wasn't the best lip reader.

Before either girl could object, Cece left with her drink and made her way towards the crowd of people who were still glancing at Emily. Alison turned around, noticing Emily's uneasiness.

"Did I interrupt something?" Alison asked, going to pour herself a glass of wine.

"Oh no, Cece was just grabbing me a drink and wanted to show me a bit of your house." Emily said, as she bent over slightly to rub Pepe's ears.

"Oh, well I can show you around if you want?" Alison said, pointing behind her. "With all the staring eyes, I think you would want to get out of here."

Emily laughed slightly, "Yeah, if you don't mind."

"Follow me then." Alison said, motioning for Emily to follow her.

Emily crutched behind her, trying to keep her eyes off of the fact that Alison's jeans really fit her. Alison led her into a living room with a large couch and TV, turning on a light as Pepe walked in behind them.

"Much more quiet, don't you think?" Alison asked, sitting on the couch.

Emily was transfixed by the table with a picture on it, taking a closer look at what was going on. In the picture, a man who Emily identified as Rollins was holding Alison bridal style. Alison was in a white dress, Rollins in a white tux. Emily realized it was their wedding picture, and from the look on Alison's face, she looked happy. In both times that Emily saw Alison with her husband, she didn't look at her husband the same way that she was in the photo. But it really wasn't Emily's place to make assumptions.

"See something interesting?" Alison asked, as Pepe got up onto the couch and sat down next to her.

"Sorry, just looking." Emily said, tearing her eyes away from the photo to make the rest of her way to Alison's couch.

She sat down on the couch and put her crutches to the side. Pepe was sandwiched in the middle of the both of them, and both of them pet Pepe as he closed his eyes.

"I thought I saw people in here."

The sliding glass door to the living room opened, and in entered Alison's husband with a white smile on his face and a glass of whiskey in his hand. He made his way over to the couch and sat on the coffee table that faced Alison and Emily.

"Emily, this is my husband Rollins." Alison said, as Rollins smiled at her. "Rollins, this is my friend from high school, Emily."

"Nice to meet you Emily." Rollins said, shaking Emily's hand. "I've heard a little bit about you."

"Nice to meet you too." Emily smiled, releasing her hand from Rollin's tight grip.

"So, Alison tells me you just got back from Afghanistan." Rollins said, leaning back slightly to sip his whiskey.

"Yeah, two weeks ago now." Emily nodded.

"It must've been hard out there. Having to pass all those children in need everyday." Rollins said.

"And you don't have to remind her." Alison cut in before Emily could respond.

"So, how'd it happen?" Rollins asked, nodding at her leg while ignoring his wife.

"If you don't mind, I would rather not talk about it." Emily said, awkwardly while looking at Alison to help her out.

"Why don't you go back to the guys? I'm sure they miss you." Alison said.

Rollins rose from his seat and kissed the top of Alison's head. "Fine, I need another drink anyway."

Once Rollins closed the sliding door behind him, Alison sighed. "He really is something." she said dully.

"It's fine. I, uh ,I probably should get going." Emily said.

"Already? It's been like twenty minutes." Alison said, her face falling.

"Yeah, well I have to get up early tomorrow to get my leg stitches removed. It's probably good to have a good night sleep." Emily said, grabbing her crutches. "I'll just text my mom to pick me up and-"

"Oh, don't even bother, I'll drive you." Alison said, standing up.

"What?" Emily asked.

"Yeah no it's fine! I kind of need some fresh air from all Rollin's friends and their girlfriends." Alison said. "Let me just grab my keys."

Minutes later, they were outside and making their way towards the silver car parked in the driveway of Alison's house. Pepe had followed them out, which was strange since he hadn't left the house except to use the bathroom in months.

"Wanna go for a ride Pepe?" Alison asked, opening the backdoor to allow Pepe in.

Pepe tried to jump into the car, but failed and fell out. Sighing to herself, Alison helped Pepe into the back of the car by lifting him up. Emily got in the car on her own, a bit surprised that Alison didn't try to help her into her car since everyone else did. As Emily settled into the passenger seat, Pepe climbed over the center console and laid down in Emily's lap.

Alison opened the car door and got in, doing a double take as Pepe settled himself in Emily's lap.

"Did he do that on his own?" Alison asked.

"Yeah, he's fine." Emily said, petting his smooth fur. "I always wanted a dog."

"That's so funny, he must really like you." Alison said, reaching over to pet Pepe before turning on the car.

Pepe remained in Emily's lap the whole drive home, as Emily and Alison talked about the possibility of snow. When Alison pulled into the driveway of Emily's house, she helped Emily get Pepe off of her so she could leave.

Before Emily could leave, Alison reached over and grabbed Emily's hand, surprising Emily.

"I'm sorry about Rollins by the way." Alison said, squeezing Emily's hand. "He's...Rollins."

"Don't worry about it." Emily gave Alison a side smile as she held Alison's hand. "It's fine really."

"Have a good night." Alison said. "Maybe we can hang out for more than twenty minutes for once."

* * *

"Ms. Fields?" Emily's doctor asked, entering the exam room. He was looking over documents on a white clipboard, before looking up at her. He had a prominent British accent and a white lab coat on.

"That's me." Emily said casually, looking at him from her spot on the exam table.

"I'm Doctor Wren Kingston. I understand this is our first time meeting." he said, giving her a small smile.

"I'm Emily, but I bet you knew that already." Emily said casually.

"I do! Now, I see here I just need to remove your leg stitches. I also see I will be seeing you to check up on your leg." he said. "Do you mind taking your brace off?"

"Sure." Emily said, already reaching for the velcro straps to undo them.

Dr. Kingston pulled out pincers, an antiseptic pad, and surgical scissors as Emily removed the brace. Thinking ahead, she decided to wear shorts so that he had easier access to her leg, even though the temperature outside was cold.

"Right, just lay down on the table on your stomach so that I have easy access to your stitches and I should get these out before you know it." Dr. Kingston said, as Emily laid on her stomach.

There was a tearing noise and something cold and wet hit her leg right where her stitches were.

"Wow that's cold." Emily said, trying not to move her broken leg.

"Just cleaning up the area with antiseptic. Don't worry." her doctor replied.

Getting her stitches removed didn't hurt, but she did feel the occasional tug as he removed them. She tried to busy herself with other things, thinking about events that happened recently in her life.

"Shit!" Emily muttered, suddenly remembering something.

"I'm sorry, did I hurt you?" Dr. Kingston asked.

"No you're fine, I just remembered something I forgot to do." Emily said.

The bracelet she was supposed to give Alison at her party was still in her pocket of her jeans. She had totally forgot about Alison's bracelet with what happened at the party, and felt almost stupid that she had completely forgotten.

After her stitches were removed, she pulled back on her brace and thanked her doctor but the bracelet was still on her mind. She couldn't stop thinking about it all day, even while she tried to busy herself with one of the books Spencer gave her.

At around nine PM, Emily was awake reading the first book of the Harry Potter series. She hadn't read it since she was in middle school, and wasn't as big of a superfan as Spencer was.

Her phone suddenly buzzed on her bedside table, lighting up and startling Emily slightly. She reached over and grabbed her phone, holding it up to read the message.

 **Alison: hey… this may sound like totally out of the blue, but r u awake? kind of got in a huge fight with rollins, needed someone to talk to about it…**

 **Emily: yeah i'm awake…what happened?**

 **Alison: can we talk about it somewhere? meet up?**

 **Emily: well I'm in my room and my ride is asleep...why don't you just come over and we can talk**

 **Alison: be over in five.**

Locking her phone, Emily immediately snapped her book closed and threw it towards the bedside table. Getting up from her bed, she glanced at herself in the mirror before running a hand through her hair slightly. Taking a deep breath, she glanced at her black hoodie and gray sweatpants before sitting back down on the bed.

Emily: I'm upstairs in my room, kind of hard for me to move up and down flights of stairs. There's a key under the mat, just come on up. I'm first room on the left. be quiet though.

 **Alison: ok, just about here.**

 **Emily put her phone on top of the book, she tapped her hands on her legs and shifted uneasily. Why was she getting so nervous all of a sudden about someone coming to her room?**

A few minutes later, there was a small knock on the door before the handle turned and someone entered.

"Hey." Alison whispered, entering Emily's bedroom and shutting the door behind her.

"Hey." Emily whispered back, watching as Alison sat down on her bed.

"Wow, reminds me of my high school days." Alison said, looking around the room. "It's a nice room."

"Well it's the same as it was five years ago." Emily smiled. "So what's going on with you?"

"Well, we got into a huge fight. Like it was bad." Alison explained.

"Bad meaning?"

"Meaning like our neighbors could probably hear us." Alison sighed.

"What was it about, if I may ask?" Emily asked.

"He wants kids." Alison said bluntly. "He wants kids, and I don't."

"Ever?" Emily asked.

"Emily I'm twenty-three, I just started teaching, I can't just have kids." Alison said.

"Yeah I understand." Emily sighed. "Why does he want kids so badly?"

"He wants them young, and I'm just not ready." Alison said, looking up at the ceiling. "I feel bad but, I'm just not ready."

Emily shifted slightly, watching Alison wipe at her eyes. "Hey, don't cry." Emily said, moving closer to Alison. "No don't cry."

"And what if we do have kids, and I'm a shitty mom like my mother was?" Alison said, turning towards Emily. Tears were beginning to fall down her face. "I can't live with that."

Emily reached an arm out, and Alison immediately leaned into her side as she continued to cry into her shoulder. Emily didn't know what to say, so she continued to stroke her shoulder and back to soothe her.

She was surprised no one heard Alison's sobs, and hoped no one did as she stroked Alison's lower back.

"Do you think I could stay here tonight?" Alison asked, looking up at Emily while trying to hold back a sob.

"Yeah. Yeah of course." Emily said. "Here, you can borrow pajamas."

Moving away from Alison, she rose from her spot and made her way towards the closet of her room. Quickly she pulled out a pair of black sweats and a navy blue tank top, tossing them Alison's way.

"Here." she said casually, making her way back to the bed while hopping slightly.

"Thanks."

Emily was immediately caught off by surprise as Alison rose from the bed, took off her sweater and began undressing right in Emily's room. Quickly averting her eyes by grabbing her phone from the bedside table, Emily concentrated on the wallpaper of her phone. She felt almost stupid, knowing Alison probably thought this was normal behavior where Emily was overreacting about it.

When she was done, Emily went into her bedside table and pulled out the black box that was supposed to be given to Alison at her party tuesday night.

"Um, so look, I know you got me the necklace and...I don't know, I saw this and I felt like I needed to get you something in return." Emily said, as Alison wiped stray tears from her face.

Alison took the box from Emily, giving her a small smile as she opened it.

"No way!" Alison said, smiling as she took the bracelet out. "I used to have one of these back in elementary school but I lost it."

"Yeah, I remember it." Emily smiled. "I don't know, I just thought of you."

"Thank you so much, this is great." Alison said, putting it on her wrist and expertly clipping it into place.

"You're welcome." Emily said.

"God I'm so exhausted from everything." Alison yawned. "And I have to be up at four tomorrow so that I can get back to my house and get changed to go teach."

"Then let's get to bed." Emily sighed, pulling the back the covers to carefully climb under. She didn't bother to take her sleep medication, praying that she wouldn't have nightmares.

Alison moved to lay down next to her, pulling the covers under her arm as they laid down. Emily leaned to turn off the light, settling down in the now dark room.

There was a few minutes of silence between them, before Alison spoke up from the darkness.

"Do you think I'll be a bad mother Emily?" she asked, turning over to cuddle into Emily's side. "Sorry, I just feel like utter shit after everything that's happened today."

"No, I'm sure you'll be a great mother. Look at you as a teacher, my cousin certainly likes you." Emily said, putting her arm around Alison.

There were a few more minutes of silence between them, and Alison's breaths were getting heavier.

"Thank you for everything Em." Alison said.

"You're going to be okay Alison. You'll be ok." Emily replied.

Close to an hour later, Alison was sound asleep and curled into her side with a strong hold on her middle. Emily tried to sleep, the smell of Alison doing a great help with calming her nerves. Soon enough, Emily drifted off to sleep without her sleep medication, and surprisingly enough to her, she didn't have nightmares.


	4. Chapter 4

Emily awoke with a start the next morning, jerking awake due to a sharp pain in her lower left leg. She must've moved it slightly in her sleep, propping up her leg on a pillow was probably a good idea. The first thing Emily realized after she fell back onto her bed was that the bed was empty. Remembering last night's events, she touched the spot next to her where the sheets were disheveled and there was a tiniest dip in the bed. Alison must've left, and to say Emily was disappointed was an understatement.

She reached for her phone on her bedside table, unlocking out it to view the single text from Alison.

 **Ali: thanks for everything last night :) happy thanksgiving**

 **Fully awake now than before, Emily quickly typed out a message in response.**

 **Emily: what time did you leave?**

 **Alison: around eight, had to get home to start making thanksgiving dinner. family is coming over soon**

Not bothering to respond, she clicked her phone off and placed it back on the bed side table. It was closer to ten thirty, but Emily was still exhausted. Throwing the sheets away from her, Emily sat up and rotated in bed so that she could get up. Sunlight was streaming through the windows were she would sit and read, casting a yellow glow on the wood floor. Every so often there was a gust of wind, which made the beautifully colored falling leaves almost chatter with noise as they moved about. Her dad had already been out twice since her arrival back to rake up the fallen leaves and put them in bags.

Emily cracked her neck, back, and fingers before getting up to go take a shower. Her mornings were almost automatic, it was the same thing everyday. It had been the same thing back when she was in high school as well, even in the army. Emily's showers were always an event, since it required a lot of time and patience that Emily didn't really have anymore. She had to remove her brace and clothes, hop on one leg into the shower, hold onto the side of the shower to balance herself as she washed herself with the hand that wasn't gripping the railing, hop out, and wrap herself in a towel.

She had already fallen over once, dripping wet and struggling to stand up. Her mom had bursted into the bathroom, trying to pick Emily up while Emily almost wanted to die of embarrassment. Privacy apparently meant nothing to mothers.

Her mother always started making Thanksgiving dinner in the morning, it was always an all day event just to eat. She could hear her mother slightly as she got ready to get in the shower, and drowned out the sounds of downstairs with the sound of the shower. Today wasn't as bad, her balancing skills were on the better side, but shaving was still just as hard as ever before.

By the time she was done and dressed, it was almost forty-five minutes later. Emily was halfway down the steps sliding on her butt, when her father walked in the front door. He noticed Emily immediately as she came down the stairs, smiling at her situation as he held up an object in his hands.

"Who knew, we needed a new turkey baster." Wayne chuckled. "Feels like snow is coming soon."

"If it comes anytime next week, Hanna will have won our bet." Emily said, as she stood up. She placed her crutches under her arms, watching her dad take off his coat.

"You girls are still doing that snow bet?" he asked.

"Well you know, 'tis the season.'" Emily chuckled.

"Speaking of 'tis the season', your mom and I know how much you love Christmas so we're going to go and get our tree on Sunday. It's time to bring out the baby Jesus and decorate this house." he said, kissing Emily's forehead while giving her a side hug. "Now let me get this turkey baster to your mom before I'm the meat being served at dinner."

"Ew, canabolism? Hard pass." Emily said, following behind her dad into the kitchen.

"Emily! Finally awake?" Emily's mom asked, looking up from pouring pumpkin pie filling into the crust. "Were you tossing and turning last night?"

"I don't know." Emily said, noticing that Olivia was in the kitchen as well with an apron on and cutting apples. "How'd you convince Olivia to help you?"

"Actually she offered." Emily's mom said happily.

"Yeah Emily, I actually really like to bake." Olivia almost scoffed, rolling her eyes slightly as she put the sliced apples into a bowl.

"Only bake?" Emily asked, trying to reach into the bowl for a piece of apple only to be slapped away by Olivia.

"Yeah, baking. And don't eat anything." she said.

"It seems she's finally found her passion." Pam smiled.

"If that means there are a lot of pastries in my future, than I am all for this passion." Emily said. "Anything I can help with?"

"You can help me with the stuffing once I put this pie in the oven."

"Perfect."

* * *

When Alison arrived back at home at 8am, her husband wasn't home. Everything in the house was dark, and there was a cold atmosphere. Frowning, she turned on a few lights and put her purse down on the kitchen counter.

"It's freezing in here. Did he turn down the heat?" Alison mumbled to herself, going to the thermostat to turn the heat back up.

Realizing her dog was nowhere in sight, she called his name loudly while opening the freezer to pull out the large turkey she had bought a few days earlier. As she placed the turkey on the kitchen table, she heard the soft and slow tapping of paws as they reached the kitchen.

In came Pepe, yawning and sleepy. His tail was wagging slightly behind him as he approached Alison, who bent down to rub his ears.

"Well happy Thanksgiving buddy." Alison cooed. "Did Rollins feed you yet or is my Peoe hungry?"

Alison made her way towards Pepe's bowl and took his special dog food out of the fridge. Placing a good portion in, she mixed it up a bit before placing it down in front of Pepe.

As Pepe ate, Alison went upstairs and went into her drawers to grab an all black bandana. Going back downstairs she folded it and approached Pepe.

"Humans aren't the only ones that need to look spiffy today huh." she said, tying the bandana around his neck. "Now let's see where Rollins is."

Pulling out her phone, she quickly dialed her husband's phone number and put the phone to her ear. The rings went by, one by one.

"Hi! You've reached Dr. Rollins. I'm not available to take your call right now, but if I have your caller ID, I'll most likely call you back! Thanks a lot!" his familiar voicemail played out, followed by a long beep to start a message.

"Hey babe," Alison said. "Just wondering where you are... You know since my family is going to be here at four and I kind of can't do this on my own... If this is about last night, please come home and we can talk about it. Bye."

Sighing as she placed her phone on the counter, she looked at Pepe who was looking up at her with expectant eyes.

"Think you can help me make dinner Pepe?" Alison joked, though a small part of her was actually serious.

* * *

At eight PM, everyone was sitting in Emily's living room with the Thanksgiving football game on. Emily wasn't really paying attention, instead much more interested in the case of her phone. She was sitting on the couch with her leg propped up, listening to her dad practically commentate the game in hopes of Emily paying attention.

"Can't we just watch Charlie Brown Thanksgiving or something?" Emily asked, leaning her head back on one of the pillows of the couch.

"Hey this is good stuff! Maybe if you just tried to learn the rules so that you could follow…" her dad said, glancing at her from his arm chair.

"Thanksgiving is about being with your family." Emily said, looking at her lock screen for any new notifications. "Football is just one of its perks for you."

"Hey guys, dinner's ready." Olivia said, walking into the kitchen quickly. She looked slightly disheveled from baking, and was untying an apron from around her waist.

Getting up, and almost falling over, Emily made her way into the dining room followed closely behind by her dad. Olivia and Pam were laying out the turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, and other food items as Emily and her dad took their seats. There was a dim glow to the dining room, and candles were lit in the middle like a centerpiece.

"This looks really good mom." Emily admired, looking at all of the food.

"Why thank you Emily, we did slave all day after all." Pam smiled, picking up the carving knife to cut the turkey.

It wasn't until they were finishing up with dinner that the atmosphere of the room began to change. Emily was finishing her mashed potatoes, already starting to feel full when the conversation turned from Black Friday shopping to Emily herself.

"So how are you adjusting to your crutches, Em?" her father asked. "Doing any better?"

"I mean, it's ok." Emily said, reaching for her water glass to take a sip. "Kind of annoying. When did you schedule my appointment with Dr. Kingston to see if I can walk without crutches?"

"Well, usually you're able to walk at the six weeks mark. So you'll probably be off them before Christmas." her dad explained, looking down at his plate.

Emily breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank God, I can't stand this for much longer."

"You'll still have that brace on definitely. At least until March." her father said, taking a bite of his turkey.

Emily's sigh of relief quickly turned into a groan as she dropped her fork and leaned back onto her chair. Her stomach was pretty much full, though she knew the pies and cookies Olivia made were still yet to come. Hearing that she still had four more months to go before she was fully recovered hadn't really sunk in until just then while she sat at dinner.

"That's literally four months away." Emily said, putting her hands over her eyes as she looked up at the ceiling.

"Well I'm sorry, but that's the recovery time. You're still going to need physical therapy before you rejoin the army." her dad said. "Best case scenario is that you'll fully recover, be able to walk correctly and be able to be a combat medic again."

Emily took a sip of her water, "Right, that chance I won't be able to walk again."

"You're over exaggerating Emily," her dad frowned. "you probably won't be able to walk correctly once your leg has fully healed because you haven't used it, but that doesn't mean you won't be able to walk ever again."

Emily rolled her eyes, and looked down at your plate.

"Emily, honey, I really think you should calm down." her mom said, reaching for Emily's free hand that was resting on the table to squeeze it lightly.

"Hey you know this could be way worse." Olivia said. "At least you can tell people that you were wounded in battle, how heroic."

"It's not fucking heroic, it's pathetic." Emily snapped, yanking her hand from her mom's grip. "A fucking building collapsed on top of me while I was trying to stop one of my squad members after he was fucking shot. And also, because of the building falling on us, he bled out because I couldn't fix him in time and we were stuck under the rubble for four hours. So it's not heroic, it's all fucking stupid."

Emily didn't realize how loud she had gotten, how hard she was frowning at her family, and how they all had gone uncomfortably silent. She realized she was being unnecessarily angry, but she couldn't stand people going around and thinking that what had happened was an act of heroism.

"I think Olivia just wanted to point out that that worse things could've happened to you, and fortunately they didn't." Pam said calmly.

"Really?" Emily asked, her voice had a biting tone. "Because I'm pretty sure dying in the collapse would've been better than being stuck in this stupid fucking brace and be unable to do shit around here-"

"Emily Catherine Fields!" her mother's voice easily overpowered Emily's, calling her to fall silent. She had set her mother over the edge, it wasn't the first time. When her mom raised her voice in that manner, it wasn't good. "Don't ever say that again. I just wanted a nice Thanksgiving, stop this!"

Emily swallowed dryly, her jaw hardening as her mother rested her elbows on the table and put her head in her hands. Her father reached across the table and stroked his wife's back comfortingly as Pam let out a small sob. Emily felt instantly guilty, but her anger was overpowering that guilt.

Olivia watched her as she rose from the table and grabbed her crutches, hastily placing them under her arms as she quickly exited the kitchen. Trying her best to quickly hop up the steps, she left her family behind her as she made her way up the stairs to her bedroom. She couldn't deal with her family at the moment, with anyone in fact.

When she made it to her room, she threw her crutches towards her window and sat down on her bed. Emily felt awful inside, and stared at her feet for a few moments as she tried to process what just happened. She never really went off on her parents, never. She never swore in front of them either, but Emily was never really one to swear in large amounts in general.

It was closer to nine-thirty now as Emily's clock displayed. She glanced at the bottles of pills on her dresser, deciding to take them now since the pain in her leg was slowly starting to creep back. She rose slightly and reached across to her dresser, mindful not to bump her left leg into one of her bed posts. It had already happened twice, and she really didn't need a repeat of it.

Too lazy to go and get water, Emily dry swallowed her pain medication and antidepressants. She didn't know when she would be falling asleep since she wanted to finish the book she was reading before she went to bed, so she abstained from taking her sleeping pills yet.

When she sat back down on her bed, she rubbed her eyes and let out a frustrated sigh. Thanksgiving in the Fields' household had always been a good time, but she had totally screwed that up. Having a brace was a nuisance, but she had no idea why she snapped at all of them like that.

To take her mind off of what had happened a few minutes before, Emily grabbed her book from her bedside table and laid back on her pillows. As her head it the pillows rather forcefully, a strong whiff of shampoo hit her nose that wasn't hers. She frowned and grabbed one of the fluffy pillows next to her, lifting it to her nose to smell it.

The whole pillow had a very strong scent of a mixture of Alison's perfume and shampoo. It was a pleasant mixture, and lingered in her nose and she lowered her pillow back down next to her. She tried not to think about Alison's smell on her pillow, although it smelt awfully inviting. There was a slight vanilla to her shampoo and something that had a spicy smell to her perfume that reminded Emily of cinnamon. It kind of matched Alison's personality perfectly.

She opened, "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" by Agatha Christie, who happened to be Spencer's favorite mystery writer. She was slowly becoming Emily's favorite too, the mysteries were hard to figure out, and every character had so much depth to it. She was on the beginning of the last four chapters, wanting to know who Hercule Poirot was going to charge with murder.

She didn't know how long she was reading, but at the start of the last chapter there was a knock on her door. It was a soft knock, like the person on the other side didn't want to disturb Emily. Emily glanced at her door, her stomach knotting as she anticipated who was behind the door.

"Emily, honey, are you still awake?" her mom's voice said quietly from the other side of the door.

"Yeah, you can come in." Emily said, as she closed the old smelling paperback book and placed it on her bedside table.

Pam entered the room quietly, and closed the door behind her. She was still in her clothes that she wore for Thanksgiving, even though it was closer to eleven now. She moved smoothly and quietly across Emily's floor, and sat down at the edge of Emily's bed to face her.

Emily didn't know what to say, but she could feel the sadness radiating off of her mother. She felt bad, she really did, but the words 'I'm sorry' couldn't make their way to her mouth.

Her mother smiled sadly at her and placed a comforting hand on her right shin, stroking the fabric of Emily's jeans with her thumb.

"It's taken me a while to realize how fast you've grown up." Pam said.

Normally, Emily would've rolled her eyes and told her mom that she was being sappy, but this time she decided not to. It was the least that Emily could do to make up for what happened before.

"Thanks mom." Emily said, smiling weakly.

"Joining the army...I always knew you were more like your father. I didn't think you would follow in his footsteps though." Pam smiled. "You two were just two peas in a pod."

Pam held two photographs into view that she must've brought in. They were clearly old, slightly faded and worn down. The first photograph that Pam showed Emily was of Emily and her father. Emily must've been four at the most in the photo, sitting on her father's shoulders and wrapped in a bright red coat. Her father looked considerably younger, only mid thirties at the time the picture was taken. His hair was completely thick and a windblown tangle of black, much like Emily's own hair, and the wrinkles on her face weren't nearly as noticeable as they were now.

They both were smiling, Emily clearly holding on tightly to her father's neck. They were standing in front of the giant Rockefeller Christmas tree in New York City. It was Emily's favorite place to go during the Christmas season, since so much Christmas spirit practically radiated off of Rockefeller Center. Emily had always been close with her father, especially at a young age and despite the fact that for most of the time he wasn't around because of being in the army.

"I remember this." Emily said, taking the photograph from her mom. The memory flooded back to her, and many details from their Christmas New York trip. "Dad thought I would be able to ice skate at four."

"Your dad had great expectations of you." Pam said, as she handed Emily the next photograph. "Do you remember this?"

Emily took the next photo from her hands, and looked down at it. She was with both her mom and dad, on a picnic blanket. There was a lot of grass in the background, but Emily distinctly remembered the occasion just because of the blue overalls and light pink shirt that she was wearing. She was eight years old, and at an end of the school year party at the Rosewood park. Her mom and dad were both still young looking, and even though most people told her that she looked like her father, she could see why some people often said she looked like her mother. When people said her mother was beautiful when she was younger, they certainly weren't lying.

Looking over the photograph, Emily noticed something in the eight year old Emily's hand, a bracelet clutched in her fist. It was silver and there were little charms on it that Emily couldn't make out, but she remembered what it was and whose it had been.

 _There were kids everywhere, and yet she couldn't find Hanna. Hanna had run off with a boy named Caleb, who told her that he found a secret tunnel behind the slide of the playground. Emily had been there a bunch of times, and she had never seen any secret tunnel. Part of her thought that Caleb was just lying, and part of her knew that Caleb had a crush on Hanna._

 _Aria and Spencer weren't in sight either among their classmates that moved throughout the jungle gym and across the woodchips, scattering them everywhere. Deciding to look for one of her friends near the top of the slide, Emily climbed the stairs that led to a bridge to get to the part of the jungle gym with the slide._

 _"Noel! Stop it!"_

 _"Come on Ali, I want to be the prince."_

 _"I said no, go away."_

 _Emily approached the small bicker near the slide, quickly figuring out that none of her friends were at the slide. Instead, a boy and a girl were standing right at the top of the slide. The girl had a fiery personality, Emily could already tell. She was in her grade, but was always in a different class. Emily knew her name was Ali DiLaurentis, and that she was the prettiest girl in the grade according to the boys. What made her stand out against the other girls in their grade at Rosewood was the golden waves and bright blue eyes. Her natural facial expression was almost a slight smirk or glare, making the teachers call her 'sassy' at parent teacher meetings._

 _The boy that was with her was named Noel. He was taller than most of the boys in her grade, and had a really bright smile. He wasn't very nice, only sometimes when he wanted your snack or wanted you to help him with something. When Noel was on Emily's team during gym, he liked to order people around and wasn't a very good sport. He was Alison's best friend, and liked to push her buttons much like how an older brother would. Although they weren't siblings, it didn't stop Noel from trying to kiss her last summer when they were playing hide and seek. But that was just a rumor._

 _They continued bickering as Emily shyly approached. She didn't really know these kids, and she was scared of how they would react when she tried to ask if she could go down the slide._

 _"Ali you're always so annoying about pretend." Noel groaned, hitting his stick on the railing of the jungle gym. It must've been his fake sword._

 _"The princess just wants what's best for her." Alison said, trying to sound proper. They both were totally oblivious to Emily standing there. "My game, my rules. And you can quit if you don't like it."_

 _"Whatever, just let me be the prince that saves you." Noel rolled his eyes as he continued to hit his stick on the side of the jungle gym._

 _"Hey," Alison said warmly. Emily looked up to see that Alison had turned her attention to her. Alison was two steps above her, looking down as if she were a princess or maybe a queen. She had a small smile on her face, making her eyes sparkle. Emily was blown away by how pretty this girl was. "Can I help you?"_

 _"Uh, yeah. I just wanted to use the slide." Emily said shyly, casting her eyes to Alison's pink sneakers, much like how a peasant would look upon royalty._

 _"Oh I'm sorry, Noel was just being an idiot." Ali said, stepping to the side to allow the entrance of the slide to open up._

 _Emily smiled slightly and thanked Alison as she moved towards the entrance of the slide and sat down, preparing to push off and go down to continue looking for her friends._

 _"Hey wait." Alison said, before she could push off._

 _"What?" Emily asked, looking back at Alison and Noel._

 _"Do you think you could help rescue me from this annoying smelly dragon?" Alison asked, glancing back at Noel._

 _"Hey! I'm not smelly! And why do I have to be a dragon?" Noel groaned._

 _"My game, my rules twerp." Alison snapped angrily, as she turned back to Emily. Her voice instantly became soft and sweet again, "So will you help?"_

 _"Don't princesses need to be saved by princes?" Emily asked._

 _"Not in my pretend world. Who cares if a princess saves a princess?" Alison asked._

 _"I'm not a princess." Emily could feel her cheeks becoming hot._

 _"Well you are now. Now save me princess."_

 _Feeling like she didn't have a choice, Emily shifted awkwardly at the top of the slide._

 _"Here, you can sit in front of me and I'll hold onto you." Emily suggested, it was the only thing she could think of._

 _"Thanks! You're a good rescuer." Alison said, as Emily moved to the side to allow Alison to sit in front of her._

 _"Alison, your mom told you to play nice with me." Noel whined._

 _"And I am, now buh bye." Alison said, as Emily pushed off from the top of the slide and quickly wrapped her arms around Alison to prevent her from getting ahead of her._

 _Alison giggled the whole way down, and Emily couldn't help herself either. When they reached the bottom, Emily spotted Spencer pushing Aria on one of the swings._

 _"That was fun." Alison said. "Thanks for rescuing me."_

 _"No problem." Emily said, catching Spencer's eye._

 _"What's your name?" Alison asked._

 _"Em-Emily." Emily stuttered out, shaking her head at Spencer who was waving at her to come over._

 _"Princess Emily. It has a nice ring. You could rule a kingdom one day Emily." Alison said, getting up from the slide. "See you around."_

 _Before Emily could say anything, Alison ran off towards the grassy hill where the parents had set up picnic areas to watch their children and still enjoy themselves. Emily moved to get off of the slide, but the palm of her hand hit something hard and rough. A small pain shot up her hand, causing Emily to snap her hand away. Looking down at what it was, Emily realized it was a charm bracelet._

 _She picked it up off the base of the slide to examine it. There were little charms of what looked like that famous tower in Paris, some flag that was probably France, and other things that had to do with Paris. It must've been Alison's, and it must've come off her wrist as they went down the slide._

 _Picking it up, Emily now had another mission to help her princess. Was Alison her princess? She seemed to have worded it that way. Waving to Spencer, Emily took off in the direction of the parents with the bracelet clutched in her hand. She looked around at all the people, trying to find Alison who was most likely with her mom and dad at a blanket._

 _Instead her parents found her first and called out to her. They weren't going to let Emily leave until Emily took a photo with them, with the help of Mr. Montgomery._

 _"Here, one picture." Pam said, plopping Emily down between she and her husband._

 _Emily did her best to smile so that she could get it over with and continue looking for Alison._

 _"Hey Em, I think we're going to get going soon. Five more minutes ok?" Pam said, wiping the wood chip pieces off of Emily's knees._

 _"Ok." Emily said, taking off again to continue looking for Ali to deliver her charm bracelet._

 _In the five minutes, she seemed to find everyone but Alison. She found her best friend Toby, Hanna, Caleb, Travis, some girl named Paige, and just about everyone else._

 _"Noel!" Emily called, catching sight of him at the swings. "Noel, where's Ali?"_

 _"Ali?" he asked, sounding shocked that Emily would ask such a thing. "She left. Her family is going to their beach house in Cape May for the summer."_

 _"So she's not going to be in Rosewood." Emily asked, her heart dropping._

 _"Not during the summer." Noel said. "Sorry I guess."_

 _Emily felt utterly defeated, and put the bracelet in the front pocket of her overalls as she slowly walked back to where her parents were packing up their stuff. She forgot about the bracelet over the summer since she got new overalls and the bracelet remained inside of it, and Alison's Paris charm bracelet still remained lost._

"Yeah. Yeah I remember this one too." Emily smiled.

Pam let out a sigh, and Emily looked at her. Pam was watching her in the dim light, and Emily could see her eyes were brimming with tears.

"Mom," Emily said sadly. "Don't cry, why are you crying?"

"I've never been so worried in my life as I have been when you joined the army." she said, her voice cracking. "Not even with your father."

"What?" Emily asked, slightly confused.

"I was proud of you, when you joined. But I was always worried, you were doing something so dangerous. All the time I would ask myself, 'what if Emily gets hurt?' or 'what if she dies out there and I'm not there with her?' It hurt so much, I never worried this way while your father was in the army. You're my only child, and just thinking about your getting hurt out there hurt me."

"Mom I-"

"And then, it's two A.M. and I get a phone call. When the person calling me tells me they're from the army, I started bawling. I thought you were dead, even though it was stupid to think so." Pam said, sniffling. "Your father had to assure me that family members of a member of the armed force aren't told that their loved one has died over a phone message. But, when they told me that you had been trapped under a building when it collapsed, all of my nightmares came true.

"Although they said your leg was shattered, you were in the hospital and you were going to be ok. And that they were going to send you home to recover. You could've died, and I would've been distraught. You're my little Emmy, and I don't want you to feel that dying would've been better than living through this. You'll get better, you will be ok."

Pam reached her hand out as Emily leaned into her mom. Her mom wrapped her arms around her and rested her cheek on Emily's head as she cried. Emily sat there, trying her best not to cry herself.

"I'm sorry." Emily finally was able to say.

"I found this photo," Pam said, sniffling to pull out another photo to give to Emily.

The photo was of Emily in the same red coat from the photo of her and her dad. The photo was from the same visit to New York, but this photo she was standing alone. She was pressed up against the glass of a window, looking out at the New York skyline. They were very high up, making the buildings below look like models that you would see in a train set. Emily was facing the window, but her head was turned towards the camera, giving the same big smile as the other pictures. For four years old, Emily did a lot of smiling. The photo was labeled, "December 7th 1997" in the corner, the same as the other photo.

"We took you to the South Tower at the World Trade Center because you wanted to go to the very top and see what the world was like from above. So we took you up there to the observatory that used to be there, and you wouldn't leave for a good hour. You love to just stand there and watch the city at a whole new perspective." Pam explained. "You said you wanted to work in a very tall building like the World Trade Center buildings."

"I don't think I'm ever going higher than four floor in a building ever again." Emily said. "Things change."

"I know they do." Pam said, taking the photo from Emily. "It's getting late, you should probably go to bed. We're going to start decorating the house for Christmas tomorrow."

"Yeah you're probably right." Emily sighed, her eyes itching from the dim lighting. "Good night mom."

"I love you." Pam said, kissing Emily's forehead as she gathered her belongings, leaving Emily to get ready for bed.

Rollins finally arrived home, only two hours before Alison's family was due to show up. Alison had been working hardly all day, trying to calm her nerves of Rollins not being home and everything not being perfect by listening to Michael Buble's Christmas album on repeat.

"Hey, I'm here." Rollins called out, as the door opened and closed. "Bit cold out there."

Glaring to herself, Alison waited until her husband had taken off his shoes and coat. He came into the kitchen holding a six pack of beer, and a plastic bag filled with a few food items that Alison had texted him to pick up.

"Hello hello." he said, leaning down to kiss Alison on the cheek as she rolled out the gingerbread for the cookies. "I brought you your grocery items."

"Thank you." Alison said, keeping her voice at a monotone.

Rollins put his beer in the fridge as he coughed rather hardly. His cough sounded dry, and he sniffled right afterward.

"I think I'm getting sick with something." he said, clearing his throat with a loud noise.

"You should probably go and get ready." Alison said, glancing at him. "Take a hot shower and put on that collared shirt, tie, and sweater vest that looks good on you. You're literally wearing a t-shirt from your frat in college that has a mustard stain on it."

"Relax, babe. I'm on it." Rollins said. "Are you actually going to be nice to me now?"

Rollins left the kitchen, leaving Alison to finish getting dinner ready. Although she hated everything that would qualify people to call her a 'housewife', cooking a meal and making sure everything was perfect was a must for Alison. Anything less than perfect would make her parents make a comment that she really did not like dealing with.

When everything was about ready, and Rollins had gotten out of the shower, Alison got into the shower herself so that she could change out of the clothes she had worn the night before when she went to Emily's. She hoped Emily was going to have a better Thanksgiving than she was going to.

Putting on a cream knit sweater and black leggings, Alison finished straightening her hair and applying mascara just as their doorbell rang.

She ran down the stairs at incredible speed as her husband beat her to the door. He had turned on the football game in the living room, and she was surprised that he had left his spot there to open the door for her family.

"Shit, I forgot to set the table." Alison muttered.

"Relax, I just finished doing it." her husband said, giving her a reassuring smile.

"You did?" Alison asked, surprised that her husband helped her when a football game was on.

"Yeah, just take a deep breath." he said, opening the door to Alison's parents.

"Hey!"

Greetings were exchanged between the two couples, tight hugs, even though Alison low key thought her parents were the most annoying people on the planet. But because it was Thanksgiving, and her sister Cece would be there to save her, she put on her best smile.

"The traditional red wine," Rollins said, taking the bottle from her father. "Let me take that from you.

"Cece said she was about five minutes away," her mom said, as they entered Alison's home. "I'm not sure about Jason."

"Rollins set an extra table setting for whatever girl he's brought." Alison said, as her parents took of their coats.

Alison went back into the kitchen and made sure that everything cooking was ok, before going back to the front door when the bell went off again.

"Sister sister!" Cece smiled, as Alison opened the door.

"Hey!" Alison said, hugging her sister like she hadn't seen her in five years.

"We're still Black Friday shopping tomorrow right?" Cece asked, handing over the plate of cookies that Cece famously made every Thanksgiving.

"Totally. I am if you are." Alison said.

"Aw, nice bracelet." Cece said, grabbing Alison's wrist to look at the Paris charm bracelet that Emily gave her. "Where'd you get it?"

"Emily gave it to me." Alison said. "Come on inside."

Jason arrived thirty minutes later, and surprisingly alone. He was single at the moment, so he didn't feel the need to bring someone with him to dinner with his family. He was still the same Jason, his voice deep and slightly awkward with how he moved about. He smelt faintly of cigarette smoke when Alison hugged him, but then again Jason was always into that sort of stuff.

Her husband was being surprisingly nice and helpful tonight, doing things for Alison before she even asked him. He paid little attention to the game, and more attention on her father and the can of beer he was holding. Thanksgiving was going off without a hitch for once, but Alison didn't want to speak too soon.

Dinner was normal, Rollins was explaining how in Canada during snowstorms he and his older sister would go into the basement and play cards and wrap themselves in blankets while watching old movies on VHS tapes. He usually hammed it up for Thanksgiving, but never enough that he wouldn't pay attention to a game or do practically everything for Alison.

Halfway through the dinner, there was a retching sound and a cough. Freezing where she was, Alison looked at where the noise came from at the threshold of the dining room. Pepe was standing in the doorway, his head bent as he puked onto the hardwood floor. She saw the contents of what she had fed him earlier that day, and knew it was all too good to be true.

"Oooo, gross. I'll get it." Rollins said, quickly placing his napkin in front of him and rising from his spot. "We'll take care of Pepe's accident in just a minute."

Rollins cleaning up for Pepe, that was a first as well. What kind of game was he playing? Whatever game it was, he was pretty serious. Once he came back with paper towels, a bag, and some spray, he immediately began cleaning up Pepe's vomit as Pepe settled back down near Cece's chair.

Rollins opened the wine Alison's father brought, and poured a good amount in everyone's glass. Jason stayed quiet for the most part, where Rollins and Cece were practically the life of every conversation.

The night couldn't have gone by slow enough for Alison, who just wanted to go to bed after a long day's work. When dinner and then dessert was finished, her family decided they were tired and going to head home. Solidifying her plans with Alison, Cece was the last to leave at close to ten.

"Well that was, actually that went really well." Alison admitted, as she began to stack dirty plates and bring them into the kitchen where Rollins was loading the dishwasher.

"It's always nice to spend time with your family." Rollins said, rinsing the extra food off the plates before putting them in the washer.

"The only iffy thing that happened was Pepe, but I think he just ate too much." Alison reassured herself.

"So are you actually going to talk to me now?" Rollins asked, as Alison wiped down the counters.

"I don't know, are you going to take back what you said to me?" Alison asked, her voice quickly becoming cold.

"I was mad, I didn't mean any of it." Rollins said. "I'm sorry, I just want a family."

"Not now Rollins, don't you get it? I'm twenty-three, and having a kid would basically put all the hard work I have done on hold." Alison said.

"But-"

"My body, my rules." Alison snapped. "If you have a problem, you can sleep on the couch."

With that, Alison threw the sponge she was wiping down the tables with into the sink and left Rollins to clean up everything. She had made the food after all, it was only fair for him to clean it all up.

She angrily got ready for bed, kicking off her clothes in exchange for her comfortable pajamas. Her husband seemed to take what Alison said seriously, since he didn't come up to their bedroom the whole time Alison got ready for bed and went to sleep.

It wasn't until past three A.M. that there was a nudge on her shoulder that awoke her from her slumber.

"Wha-, what is it?" Alison groaned, sleepily.

"Hey, it's me." Rollins whispered. "I can't sleep."

"Well that sounds like a personal problem-" Alison began, turning over to face the opposite way.

"Look I'm sorry Alison, I really am. I didn't mean any of that, and you're the most amazing thing to have ever happened to me." Rollins said. "I love you so much, now will you please let me come back into our room and sleep with you."

Alison groaned, not wanting to argue with her husband. "Fine, but if I hear one more thing-"

"I promise you won't, thank you so much."

Rollins walked around to the other side of their large bed and climbed in, making little sound as he adjusted himself in the bed. He pulled the sheets over him, and Alison could feel him scoot closer to her and wrap his arm around her middle.

"I love you so much Alison." he said, kissing the spot behind her ear.

Alison felt a pang of guilt, that she quickly pushed away as she fell asleep again, for she didn't know why Rollins having his arm wrapped around her didn't feel as safe as when Emily had her arm around her.

* * *

Sunday night, somehow Alison ends up at Spencer and Toby's for a house party, even though she has to teach in the morning. When she and Cece went Black Friday shopping, Alison stumbled into Spencer who invited her house for a get together. Rollins decided he didn't want to go, mostly because of the Sunday night football that he would miss since Spencer and Toby weren't huge fans.

Alison rang the doorbell at around eight PM, only planning to stay for an hour or two. She didn't want to stay out late and then be exhausted the next day.

Toby opened the door, a big smile on his face which caused his more prominent smile lines to appear. He was holding a beer in his other hand, carefully keeping it out of the way as he greeted and hugged Alison.

"Good to see you!" he said. "I think Spencer's inside, if you want me to show you where she is."

"That would be great, thanks." Alison smiled, following him inside.

"Spenc!" Toby called, causing Spencer to stick her head out of the crowd of people.

"Hey! Glad that you made it!" Spencer smiled, hugging Alison. "Can I get you something to drink?"

"Sure, anything is fine. What kind of beer do you have?" Alison asked, following Spencer into their kitchen.

Spencer and Alison entered the kitchen, where only two people had stuck around to chat in. Alison didn't recognize either of them, and paid no attention to them as she got her beer. It was a bitter taste in her mouth that Alison never liked when she was younger, but in college she learned that you got what you got and the taste just sort of grew on her.

"I can reintroduce you to some people around, Emily's here. I know you're friends with her." Spencer said.

"Oh yeah, that would be great." Alison said, instantly feeling happier now that she knew that Emily was there.

She followed Spencer out of the kitchen and into their living room, where sure enough Aria and Emily were having a conversation. Emily had no drink in her hand, probably because she couldn't. Both girls approached, causing the two who were sitting on the couch to look up.

"Hey!" Alison said happily, looking down at Emily. "Nice to see you here."

"You too, I didn't know you were going." Emily remarked.

"I kind of decided last minute. Pretty spontaneous." Alison explained. "Hey Aria."

"Hey, I was just about to get up. Do you want this seat?" Aria asked, standing up and motioning to the seat.

"Oh Aria it's fine, you really don't have to get up because-"

"No really it's fine. Come on Spencer, help me pick out my next beer." Aria said, dragging Spencer away from the two girls as Alison sat down on the couch.

"So how are you Emily?" Alison asked, sipping her beer.

"I'm good, yourself?" Emily asked. It was a bit hard to hear in the living room, since it was where most people were congregating.

"Good as well. How was your Thanksgiving?" Alison asked.

"My what?" Emily asked, frowning and leaning in to try to hear what Alison said.

"Your Thanksgiving!" Alison said loudly.

Conversation continued like this for about ten minutes, before both girls were fed up with having to repeat themselves.

"Do you want to just go outside?" Alison asked. "It would be easier to hear."

"Yeah, that's a good idea. Let me just grab my crutches." Emily said, boosting herself up to grab her crutches while balancing on one foot.

Leading the way for Emily, Alison made her way to the front door of Spencer's house and opened it wide. She knew exactly where to go to talk, seeing it as she walked in.

"I've always wanted a porch swing for my house." Alison admitted, as she sat down on the porch swing. "Come and sit with me."

Giving it an uneasy look, Alison stopped swinging so that Emily could easily sit down without having to worry about falling over.

"It's really cold out here." Alison said, absentmindedly.

"Really? I'm not cold at all." Emily said, unzipping her blue Rosewood Sharks sweatshirt. "Here, this will keep your warm."

"Are you sure you won't be cold?" Alison asked, hesitantly taking the jacket. "This sure is a blast from the past."

She flipped the hoodie over to see Emily's last name printed on the back of it with "Rosewood Swim Team Captain" on the lower back.

"Oh believe me I know." Emily laughed slightly, as Alison put on the jacket and zipped it up. It smelt a lot like Emily. Hazelnut, chocolate, and a slight mint.

Both girls sat in silence for a few moments, watching their breath become clouds in front of their face. There were clouds covering the sky, making it unable for either of them to see any stars.

"It's finally Christmas season." Emily smiled.

"Oh true, you start your decorating early don't you." Alison smirked, nudging Emily.

"We're practically almost set up." Emily said proudly.

"That's what I call dedication." Alison said. "I don't even get my Christmas tree until December."

"That's unfortunate since all the good trees are picked out by then." Emily smirked. "You know every Christmas my grandmother used to read the palms of my cousins and I and pretend she was a fortune teller. Some of us would actually believe her."

"Do you remember how she did it?" Alison asked.

"Of course. It's been twenty five years of her reading my palms." Emily said.

"Read my palms then." Alison said, holding out her hand.

"Your palms? Alison it's a joke." Emily said.

"And I don't care, read my palm." Alison said.

Sighing, Emily scooted closer to Alison to have better access to her hand. She took Alison's right hand and laid it flat on her thigh.

"Okay, this may be a little hard to see the lines in your hand but I'll see what I can do." Emily said, touching her finger tip lightly to a section of Alison's palm. It was as if she was drawing a line.

"This is your life line. It's pretty curvy, so that means that you have plenty of enthusiasm. That can be used for good or for evil though." Emily chuckled, looking up at Alison who was few inches away.

As Emily continued her fortune, Alison realized how good it felt for Emily just to stroke the palm of her hand with one finger. Emily's face was mere inches from Alison, her breath fogging right as it hit Alison's face. Her breath smelt like mint gum, leaving a sweet undertone in Alison's nose.

"See, it doesn't really mean anything." Emily said, looking up at Alison who looked at her the same time.

Emily was four inches from her at the most, staring into her eyes. Emily's eyes were a dark chocolate in this light, but Alison loved them. Brown eyes were always her thing, and were even more so now than before.

"I think it's pretty interesting." Alison said, glancing at Emily's lips. It had been a long time since she had seen Emily's lips up close, and she watched in awe almost as Emily's tongue darted out to lick her lips.

She saw Emily visibly gulp, as the sensation to see if Emily's lips still tasted the same became overwhelming. She hadn't kissed anyone but Rollins in years, and his lips were firm and sloppy often.

Alison was pretty sure she was the first person to lean in, inching her way towards Emily. She closed her eyes, and stopped right as the sides of their noses touched. Just one move would close the space between them.

"It's snowing!" Hanna's voice rang out from inside the house.

Emily and Alison both snapped back, startled by Hanna's outburst. Emily scooted away from Alison, and watched as Hanna opened the front door and came out. Sure enough, large snowflakes were drifting down from the sky and landing on the lawn and everything else that was outside.

"I told you Emily!" she said. "Hanna Marin finally wins the snow bet, Spencer needs to pay up with all your cash."

"That's great Hanna." Emily said, as Hanna jumped into the lawn and danced a little bit in the falling snow.

Meanwhile, Alison was still trying to process what just almost happened. Was she just about to kiss someone that wasn't her husband? She couldn't deny it, they were only centimeters away before Hanna interrupted. What would've happened had she not interrupted?

"I think I should go home." Alison said, placing her full beer on the wood of the porch. "It's getting late, and I still have to grade papers before I go to bed."

Alison quickly rose from her spot on the swing, ignoring Emily's concerned questions as she made her way to her car. She was scared, Alison DiLaurentis was scared. Not from anything spooky that made her skin crawl, but because she was going to kiss Emily. And she wanted to.

Emily's jacket was still wrapped around her as she pulled out of the driveway, but hopefully Emily didn't mind.


	5. Chapter 5

**sorry for the late updates…**

 **i met sasha and shay, (and the whole cast of pretty little liars) on october 9th and it was the best experience of my life. they're so great, sasha is an actual cinnamon roll. thanks to marlene who let me meet them, she's bae.**

 **as always, reviews help A LOT!**

* * *

"So...Emily, how are you feeling?" Dr. Gordon asked, clicking his pen and opening Emily's file to write notes. It was the fourth day of December, cold. It was supposed to be like that for the next few days, every time the wind blew it made your face numb.

"I'm fine." Emily said, trying to keep her voice from quivering.

Truth be told, Emily wasn't doing well. Her nightmares were returning, though it wasn't sudden. It wasn't even what you would consider a full on nightmare. Her dreams were average, but there was that vibe to them that made her on edge and wake up abruptly delirious and scared. She was sitting on Dr. Gordon's comfortable couch, her crutches leaning next to her. Her right leg was bouncing quickly, and she wanted to leave more than anything.

Alison wasn't talking to her either. Not since that night at the party. She's just been ignoring her now. No texts returned, no phone calls picked up. It was driving her mad, why was Alison ignoring her? Emily knew something almost happened, but it didn't. So why was she not talking to her? It was driving Emily crazy, so she tried to busy herself with books but still, no luck. It kept her up at night, and began entering her dreams.

"Are you?" Dr. Gordon asked. "You've skipped two of our sessions and you can't sit still."

It was the truth.

Emily's eyes snapped up from playing with a loose string on her black hoodie. She liked her Rosewood sweatshirt better, but Alison had that sweatshirt now. Emily balled her fists at the thought, watching her knuckles turn white.

"I thought I was going to be okay." Emily said, looking back down at her knuckles.

"What changed?" Dr. Gordon pressed.

Emily didn't respond, she studied Dr. Gordon's face. He had gotten a haircut, his hair now shaved completely, probably because his dark hair was becoming gray. Emily could see the gray hairs on his sideburns. His icy blue eyes looked up lazily from his notebook, his glasses magnified his eyes slightly. He looked tired, and Emily wondered if he overworked himself.

"I don't know. I think I messed up." Emily said.

"How?"

"This girl and I almost kissed and now she won't talk to me. She's married, but it wasn't just my fault. I don't understand why she's mad and ignoring me." Emily said.

"She may not be mad at you Emily. She may be more mad at herself, for almost cheating on her partner. She could be avoiding you to prevent the temptation-"

The door suddenly opened, making Emily jump slightly. It was Dr. Rollins, in all his handsome glory. He was dressed in a pale blue collared shirt, and a navy blue sweater with a blood red tie. He had a file in his hand, and Emily checked his left hand to see his bright gold wedding band shining back at her.

"Oh, sorry I didn't realize you were seeing someone right now." he said, his eyes flickering to Emily. "Matt, I brought you that file you requested. Just dropping it off."

Rollins crossed the room and placed the file on Dr. Gordon's desk. Dr. Gordon looked slightly annoyed due to the interruption.

"Also, I'm taking an extended lunch. I'm taking my wife to lunch." Rollins said, flashing his white smile. "See you."

He left before Dr. Gordon could say a word.

"I'm sorry about that." Dr. Gordon sighed in frustration.

"I need to go." Emily said. "Can you just give me my prescription for refills?"

"Emily you've only been here for four minutes." Dr. Gordon said.

"I don't care. I need to leave."

Her stomach was in knots, she needed to leave. She grabbed her crutches and hastily took the prescription notes from Dr. Gordon before leaving. She knew she didn't have a ride home, her mom dropped her off before going grocery shopping on the other side of town.

She made it outside and shivered in her sweatshirt, it was definitely below freezing. She pulled her hood up, the black hood shielded her face from the numbing, cold wind. Snow covered the ground around her, the parking lot of the psychiatrist practice was covered in salt to melt the ice.

Emily crutched through the parking lot, and out onto the sidewalk. It was a bit harder to do, the sidewalks weren't salted as heavily. Cars passed by as she made her way home. She knew it was stupid to do so, but she didn't want to be more of an inconvenience than she already was being.

It wasn't until she was making her way towards the Main Street of Rosewood that things took a turn for the worse. Her fingers went numb, and she was starting to shake pretty violently. Her breath formed in front of her face so clearly that it seemed like she was smoking a cigarette. She pressed on though, turning her head every time the wind blew.

When her left crutch slipped on a patch of ice, Emily didn't expect it. It came out from underneath her and she fell. Thankfully, she fell on her right side. She put her left hand out to catch her fall, but it didn't help much. Her right leg hit pretty hard, and she could feel her left hand get scraped on the concrete.

"Shit." Emily hissed, her right leg tingling in pain. Not only was this embarrassing, but now she didn't have a way to stand up. She pushed herself off the ground, locking her arms to try to stand without hitting her broken leg but her foot slipped on ice and she fell face first into the concrete again. She could hear the sound of a car pull over and someone get out.

"Shit!" she shouted in frustration as she tried again.

"Fuck! Are you okay?" a girl asked, clear worry in her voice. Emily felt two hands on her suddenly. One was on her upper arm and the other wrapped itself around her waist. "Here, try to stand up. I got you."

Emily tried again, and this time she was successfully pulled to her feet...well foot. Still holding onto Emily, her rescuer picked her crutches off the ground and gave them to Emily. Emily realized who it was. The scent and the voice were clear giveaways, but seeing the bright flawless blonde hair and the red pea coat confirmed it.

"Fuck, I saw you fall as I was coming up the road. I totally thought you were going to land on your broken leg." Alison said, letting go of Emily. "Shit, you're hurt, and your face is practically blue."

Emily looked down at her hands, which were raw from being scraped. Her jeans had a tear in them on the right leg, and there was a cut that was bleeding. The red liquid trickled down her leg, staining the material. She could only guess what her face looked like.

"What the fuck are you doing outside when it's 5 degrees out?" Alison asked. She only ever sweared when she was worried, or mad. Emily figured she was feeling a bit of both.

"I-I, I was going home." Emily shivered, her teeth chattering as Alison tugged on her black hoodie slightly before walking over to the passenger door of her car.

"From what?" Alison asked, the worry in her features very apparent as she opened the car door. "Get in, you need to be cleaned up."

"I'm fine." Emily said.

"I said get in." Alison snapped, her voice as biting as the wind.

Not wanting to argue, Emily got into Alison's car. It was a bit painful, since everywhere on Emily's body hurt. Alison got in the driver's side, and pulled out of her place on the side of the road.

"I thought you had a lunch date with your husband." Emily spoke up, as she put her hands over the vents of Ali's car. Her car was warm, and Alison was playing the Christmas radio station. 'It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas', played through the car.

"How did you know that?" Alison asked, as she made a U-turn.

"I was at a therapy session. He came in and told Dr. Gordon while I was in there." Emily explained.

"And what made you think that you could crutch home when it's below freezing with only a black hoodie on." Alison said disapprovingly.

She'll be a good mother one day, Emily thought. She has that natural parenting instinct.

"I left early, I didn't want to inconvenience my mom." Emily said, as Alison pressed a button on her car.

"Call Elliot Rollins." Alison said, and her car immediately granted her request. Rollins first name was Elliot? Emily never expected his name to be Elliot, of all things. Well, the more you know.

Instead of Christmas music, the sound of a phone call came over the speakers. It took three rings until her husband picked up.

"Hey babe, where are you?" Rollins immediately asked.

"Hey, I'm gonna have to cancel." Alison said. "There's an emergency meeting at school, I'm so sorry."

Rollins sighed loudly, "You can't skip?"

"I'm sorry, no." Alison said.

"Okay, I guess I'll just get McDonald's or something." he said glumly.

"Anything but McDonalds please. You had it for lunch almost everyday last week, you're body can't take all that sodium."

Definitely a good mom, Emily thought.

"Ok. Guess I'll see you at home then. Love you."

"Bye." Alison said, disconnecting the call.

"Do you lie to your husband a lot?" Emily asked.

"What?" Alison asked, clearly caught off guard by Emily's confrontation.

"I asked, do you lie to him a lot? Really it's not that hard to tell him that I wiped out and you're going to fix me up." Emily said, as the Christmas music began playing again.

"No." Alison said, her grip on the steering wheel tightened. "He-..., he wouldn't understand."

"Sure." Emily said, turning to look straight ahead. She already was getting annoyed with Alison.

"You don't understand Rollins like I do. You're not the one married to him." Alison said.

"Do you even want to be married to him though?" Emily asked. "Because honestly you don't act like it."

"Shut up!" Alison yelled, causing Emily to jump. "I'm trying to help you and all you can do is bombard me with questions about my personal life?"

"Don't you think I deserve an explanation on why you've ignored me? You almost kissed me and then you wouldn't even talk to me!" Emily yelled back.

Alison took a deep breath and shut her eyes when they pulled up at a stop light.

"Emily you don't understand." she said, her voice calmer but shaking slightly.

"Well please do explain." Emily said.

"I have a lot going on in my life right now, and what I did was very...immature of me." Alison said. "I'm sorry I've ignored you, I just needed to clear my head. Rollins...he's..."

"Did something happen?" Emily asked.

"No, no. I don't know. But I guess I owe you an apology for everything that's happened." Alison said. "I'm sorry if you got the wrong idea."

"It's fine honestly. We don't have to talk anymore after this." Emily said.

"No! No, I still want to be friends with you. Honestly you're the easiest person to talk to ever, I can't not be friends with you. I just want to put everything behind us."

Emily stayed quiet, and swallowed thickly.

"Okay." she said bluntly.

"Okay? Thank god, I'm so glad you understand Em." Alison smiled, and placed her hand on Emily's upper thigh gently, knowing that it was broken. "Now let's get you home and fixed up."

It was starting to snow again when Alison pulled up with Emily into her driveway. The exterior of Alison's home practically screamed Christmas. Emily thought she herself was big on Christmas, but how gorgeously the outside of Alison's house was decorated. Emily could only imagine the inside.

The outside of her house was decorated with icicle lights along the gutters and in the bushes in front of her house. There were fake candles in the windows, and Emily could only guess what it looked like at night.

Alison pulled right up to one of the three garage doors of her house and turned off her car. Emily got out, gripping the handles of her crutches gingerly since her hands were scraped and raw. She followed Alison through the front path of her house.

When Alison unlocked her front door and opened it for Emily to go inside, she was hit was a great warmth. Alison kept her house very warm, and it smelled of pine trees and cookies. Anyone else on the outside looking in would've believed both Mr. and Mrs. Rollins were a perfect happy couple. But Emily knew better, even if Alison didn't admit it.

"Pepe!" Alison called out, as she shrugged out of her red coat and took off her black beanie.

There was a tinkling of bells approaching, and around the corner from the living room came Pepe in a vibrant red Christmas collar with tiny bells attached. His tail was wagging, and he slipped slightly as he came right up to Emily.

"I forgot how much he likes you." Alison said, as Emily scratched behind his ears. Neither of them mentioned that Pepe looked a bit worse than a month ago. "Let's get you fixed up though, I have to be back at school in an hour. Thank god I don't have a class after lunch or I would really be pressed for time."

With that said, Emily followed behind Alison until they reached her kitchen. When they passed by the living room, Emily saw a large and nicely decorated tree inside.

"Sit down on one of the bar stools, I'll go grab some first aid stuff." Ali said, motioning to one of the tall chairs right under the island. Before Emily could move, Ali had left to go to the upper level of her house.

Emily situated herself in one of the chairs, looking at the few items on the marble island in the center of the kitchen. Sitting on the counter was two plane tickets, resting underneath a set of keys that weren't labeled. The plane tickets were to Canada, one made out to Rollins and one for Alison. There were two different dates on the plane tickets, Alison was supposed to go a few days later than her husband.

Also on the table was a container of gingerbread cookies, with a book and a letter resting on top of it. Picking up the open letter out of curiosity, Emily read the print.

"Dear Ms. DiLaurentis,

"I've taken a great deal of time to read the manuscript you've sent to us for the book. This book is very interesting, nothing that I have ever seen before. Four high school girls that try to solve their best friend's disappearance/murder? Iconic. Scholastic would be very much pleased to publish your book.

"I know you wrote in the notes that their friend was going to end up being alive and just faked her death, I have a few questions regarding that. Also, the way you wrote the flashbacks of the girl who disappeared and one of the girls are very well done. I had a question about if those girls were going to end up together by the end of your projected series. I really like their dynamic.

"Please contact me so we can set up a meeting. We can pay for your trip to New York City, call me so we can set up an appointment. We can work on the title to your book then as well.

"Sincerely,

"Edward Unger"

Alison was publishing a book? This was news, but Alison probably didn't mention it because she didn't know it was going to be published yet. Emily folded the letter and placed it back into the envelope.

"Okay, I got some First-Aid stuff to fix you up." Alison said, coming back into the kitchen. She placed a box of large band aids, antiseptic wipes, and white cloth strips on the table. "Swing around so I can get your hands first."

Emily held out her hands automatically, the skin on her palms were red and pulsed slightly as she held them out for Alison. Alison sighed and opened an antiseptic wipe, guilty apologized for the pain in advance, and began wiping down Emily's red palms.

"Ow!" Emily hissed, snapping her hands out from Alison's grip.

"I'm sorry! I know it stings." Alison said, placing the slightly red wipe on the table before grabbing the cloth. "This cloth is gonna work better than putting a bandage on you."

Before wrapping the white strip of cloth around her hands, Alison smeared some cream on it that she said helped to heal cuts really fast. She secured the cloth by tying a knot, before moving onto Emily's face.

"At least you don't look blue anymore." Alison muttered, as she opened another antiseptic wipe and began dabbing gently at the corner of Emily's forehead. Emily watched Alison's face as Alison did it, she could see every detail down to the tiny pores of her skin and the mascara on her eyelashes.

"I should probably text my mom and tell her that you have me and she doesn't have to worry." Emily mumbled, tearing her eyes away to pull out her phone.

"Lift your leg so I can get your leg now. Uh...I think you're gonna have to take off your jeans so that I can reach your leg." Alison said, when she was done with Emily's face.

"Do I have to? It's a bit of a process." Emily said.

"Yes, I don't want your leg getting infected." Alison said, standing up. "Here I'll help."

Alison's hands immediately went for the straps of Emily's leg brace, carefully undoing each one before sliding the brave down and off Emily's leg.

"Just tell me if I hurt you." Alison said casually, her hands went up to unbutton Emily's jeans.

Emily swore she stopped breathing as she lifted herself off the barstool so that Alison could pull her pants down her legs to her ankles. How was Alison keeping such a calm composure? Right, they were friends.

"Ouch this one looks nasty." Alison said, her fingertips brushing Emily's leg. "You really fell hard, huh Fields."

"I guess so." Emily sighed, as Alison began to fix up her leg.

She tried to get passed the fact that she was sitting in her underwear in Alison's house while Alison fixed up her leg, realizing it was stupid of her to overreact these things. After all, when Emily was a medic she had to pants the wounded soldiers in order to get to the bullet wounds on their legs. It wasn't like this was new, it was just new that she was the one who was being treated.

"Great, you're all fixed up now. I totally should've become a doctor." Alison smiled, satisfied with her work. "Wants some of my world famous gingerbread cookies before I take you home?"

"Uh, sure." Emily nodded, as Alison pulled her pants back up. "That sounds good."

"Awesome. Let me just go out these things away." Ali said, hurrying off to go return the medical supplies.

Regaining her composure, she texted her mom again to make sure she knew she was at Alison's before turning off her phone. Alison returned downstairs a minute later, grabbing the container of cookies while she pushed the letter and book off of it.

"I used to make these with Cece all the time when I was younger." Alison said, opening it to hand Emily two. "We perfected the recipe when I was 15."

Emily grateful took the cookies from Alison's hand, and took a bite as she watched Alison grab one for herself. It was nice to be able to spend time with her again, it calmed her nerves.

Alison was an enigma in terms of Emily trying to figure her out. It was unclear to see just what she was thinking, for she was good at masking it.

* * *

Alison was in the living room watching A Christmas Story while folding laundry when her husband got home from work later that night. She heard him, every action he made seemed to be amplified, his footsteps, how he threw his car keys onto the counter, even when he unzipped his coat.

"I'm home!" Rollins called.

Alison paused the TV as she stood up from her comfortable place on the couch. She was wearing fuzzy pink slippers, old fluffy pajama pants that she's pretty sure she's had since she was in high school, and a long sleeved shirt. It was one of those evenings for her, where she didn't feel like cooking or putting any effort into her appearance.

She entered the front hallway and saw Rollins brushing the snowflakes off his tousled hair, the light hitting him made him look like he was Alison's age at the oldest. She wouldn't have guessed he was pushing thirty-seven if she didn't know. He gave her a perfect grin when he saw her at the end of the hallway. Rollins always had perfect teeth, well a perfect everything really.

"Good evening my beautiful wife." Rollins said, putting his bag on a coat hook before making his way towards Alison. "You're looking stunning."

Rollins leaned down and kissed Alison softly, reminding her of the early days of their marriage where everything seemed like it came from a TV show. Alison sighed as he pulled away, the familiar smell of Rollins filling her nose with a mixture of the wet snow outside. He stood back up straight, being that he was a few good inches taller than Alison.

"You're tracking snow in here." Alison said, giving him a slight disapproving look as she looked down at his snowy loafers.

"Wow, your husband of three years comes home and all he get is a 'you're tracking snow in here?'" Rollins asked, holding out his arms in defense. "Where's the love babe?"

"I'm just saying it's true. But I do appreciate all that you do, dear husband." Ali teased, scrunching her face and poking him on the nose. "You need to think of some ideas for dinner because I'm not in the mood to cook."

"Great minds must think alike, I knew you were probably not going to want to cook so guess what I brought home?" Rollins asked, grabbing two items off the hall table that Alison didn't notice before.

"Red wine and let me guess, a pizza that's half cheese and half pineapple." Ali said knowingly. "Just like the beginning months of our relationship."

"Pizza and red wine are a key factor to our relationship, I decided to bring it back." Rollins said, following Ali into the kitchen.

"How did you know I wasn't going to want to make dinner tonight?" Alison asked, grabbing two plates from the cabinets as Rollins grabbed two wine glasses and their wine opener.

"You said you had an emergency meetings, those types of things usually drain you I bet." he said, as he poured the wine into the glasses.

Alison frowned as she put a piece of cheese pizza on one plate, and a piece of pineapple pizza on the other.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Alison said, carrying the pizza into the kitchen with her husband closely behind.

"You know I love it when you dress like that." Rollins said, sitting down across from Alison. He placed a glass in front of both of them, and took his plate from Ali.

Alison laughed and looked down at her pizza, but she could still feel his eyes watching her. She looked up as she took a bite and saw him smiling slightly as he sipped his wine.

"What?" Ali asked, the word muffled since her mouth was full of pizza.

Rollins smiled wider, "Nothing. It's nothing." he said, taking a bite of his own pizza.

They continued to eat in relative silence, but made small talk throughout. By the time Alison was halfway done with her first slice of pizza, Rollins stood up to get more wine for himself. She watched his back as he exited the room, sipping her still very full glass of wine. Pepe, who was lying down next to her, yawned and shifted slightly.

Rollins returned a few moments later with a full glass of wine, and sat back down at his seat across from Alison.

"So my parents are excited to see us." Rollins said. "They were a bit disappointed you weren't coming down the same day as I was."

"Well, like I said my students are a big priority to me. And I'm coming down a week later, it'll give you time to catch up with them." Alison said, bending down slightly to rub Pepe's stomach.

"I go down on the 17th, and you're the…?"

"22nd, right after school ends. Not even a week." Alison said.

After dinner, the couple rinsed off their plates and made their way to their bedroom. Rollins brought the rest of his third glass of wine up with him, following right behind Alison has they climbed the stairs.

"Don't you think you should chill on the wine?" Alison asked, as they entered the bedroom.

Rollins laughed slightly, "I got it under control. Do you think I'm an alcoholic or something?" he joked.

"No...no." Alison said, heading towards the walk-in closet. She made her way to her side of the bed, and pushed back the covers. She ditched her fuzzy slippers on the floor and pulled the covers over her.

Rollins placed his wine glass on his bedside table, before walking into their walk-in closet to get changed. Alison picked up her phone and opened the Facebook app on her phone. Her timeline was full of different people she knew, and she stopped when she saw that Emily posted something not too long ago.

It looked like she was actually posting now, instead of being inactive. The photo was of Hanna and Emily. Hanna had her arms wrapped around Emily's neck, and kissing Emily's cheek with her face scrunched up. Emily was smiling happily at the camera, her dark brown eyes lit up and happy. The caption of the photo read, 'thanks to my favorite blonde, i finally got chipotle for the first time! :) xx'

Favorite blonde? Alison frowned at the comment, even though she shouldn't be worrying about. An old feeling inside her flared as she stared at the photo. She was sure Hanna was straight, and that she was dating Caleb. But then again, in high school Hanna was always...flamboyant when it came to girls, even if she didn't mean it.

 _"Em, when are you going to ask out that girl Paige?" Hanna asked._

 _In junior year, Hanna, Ali, and Emily were all in the same chemistry class. Emily and Hanna sat at the lab table in front of Ali and Noel, and Hanna often talked loudly. That spring day, Noel wasn't there and they had to get into groups of three. Emily being the nice and friendly person that she was, offered for Ali to join she and Hanna to do their lab questions._

 _Obviously, their lab wasn't making much progress. Hanna kept steering the conversation away from sig figs and finding the average atomic mass of carbon. Emily had to gently coax her back into the classwork that they were supposed to be doing, giving Ali apologetic looks every time that it happened._

 _"I'm not going to Hanna." Emily said, giving in to Hanna's off topic questions._

 _"Why not? She's totally into you." Hanna said, tapping her pencil on her worksheet._

 _Alison's grip tightened on her mechanical pencil, just thinking about Pig Skin made her skin boil. What was this about Emily and Paige being a thing? Seriously? Emily could do way better than Paige, it was a fact._

 _"Because Hanna, I don't want to." Emily said. "Can we please finish this so we don't have homework?"_

 _"Oh come on Emily, you're super hot. Even I would date you." Hanna said, reaching over to push a stray hair behind Emily's ear. "If you would let me put a little makeup on you, you would be irresistable."_

 _"Thanks Hanna, but I'm good." Emily said, her cheeks turning slightly pink._

 _Ali realized her grip on her pencil was still tightening as she watched Hanna with her hands all over Emily. Well maybe not all over, but this definitely wasn't normal for best friends. Ali wondered if they had ever made out before, and hoped that nothing had happened between them._

 _Hanna laughed and nudged Emily in the side, wiggling her eyebrows that made Emily's cheeks darken and for her to whisper, 'shut up.'_

 _Yeah, they definitely had made out. Or at least it seemed like it._

 _"What do you think Alison, do you think Emily's hot and should totally ask out Paige?" Hanna asked._

 _"Can we please just work on this?" Alison snapped, her voice startling both girls across from her. "I don't really want to have homework this weekend."_

 _"Yeah, Ali's right. We really need to work Han." Emily said, looking back down at her paper. She looked up shyly at Alison and whispered, "Sorry."_

 _The corners of Alison's mouth rose slightly as she tried to fight off a smile._

 _"It's okay, Em."_

"Watcha doing?" Rollins asked, climbing into bed next to her. He looked over at her phone, and Alison continued scrolling through her Facebook.

"Just on Facebook." Ali said, closing her phone and placing it on her bedside table. "I'm so exhausted."

"I bet." Rollins sighed, laying down and wrapping his arm around Alison's middle tightly.

She looked over at him, his brown eyes looking back at her expectantly. He had very different eyes than of Emily's. They were a similar shade, but his didn't hold that sparkle or warmth that Emily's had. When she looked into his eyes, she just saw brown.

"You know what would be the cherry on top of a perfect day?" Rollins asked, though Alison knew where it was going.

"What would that be?" Alison asked.

In response, Rollins leaned forward and kissed his wife firmly. Alison took a sharp breath as she felt Rollins push her against the pillows. They continued to kiss, her hands going to his neck as his hands went to her waist.

Things were getting heated, and she knew what her husband wanted but-

"Stop." Alison said, pushing back on him.

"What?"

"I said stop." she said, as Rollins leaned back.

"What the fuck? What is your problem?" he asked, his eyebrows furrowing. In that moment he looked no younger than thirty-seven.

"I'm just not feeling it." Alison said, and she wasn't. Rollins used to make her feel like she was on fire, but all she felt no was a weird feeling in her stomach. Was it because she felt guilty for almost kissing Emily?

"Is it because of the whole I want a kid thing?" Rollins sighed, rolling off of Alison and onto his side of the bed. "I told you, I'm sorry."

Alison sighed, "No, it's not that."

"Than what is it?" Rollins pressed, his voice irritated and impatient.

"I-I don't know." Alison admitted, she really didn't know why she was feeling like this. She put her head in her hands and rubbed her temples, trying to control her want to just burst out into tears.

Rollins sighed loudly, "Whatever." he said, getting up from the bed.

"What are you doing?" Alison asked, as he went into their walk-in closet again.

"I'm going out." Rollins called back.

"Going out where?" Alison asked, was he actually just going to leave?

"Going out with the guys because clearly you want nothing to do with me. I'm trying Alison, I'm fucking trying. When I ask you about what the fuck is going with you in your life, in your head? You fucking shut me out or give me vague fucking answers. I'm not fucking dealing with this ok?" Rollins said, emerging from the closet with a black hoodie on and jeans.

"Yeah? Well all you fucking do is treat me like one of your patients whenever I try to talk to you about anything!" Alison yelled back, her anger heightening quickly as she got out of bed and walked towards Rollins. Her fists were balled and her jaw was tight.

"At least I'm fucking trying to help you. You don't have to be such a bitch about literally everything when I try to actually be your husband. We're fucking in this together, but I can't deal with you if you don't want to at least give a shit." Rollins yelled.

"Really? We're having one of those kinds of fights? You fucking always bring up marriage vows to back you up for everything." Alison rolled her eyes.

"At least I'm not a fucking bitch!" Rollins snapped. "You know I heard how you were a major bitch in high school, and I still see it."

Alison snapped the same moment Rollins did. Before she even thought about it, she had slapped him hard. The connection that the bottom of her hand made with the right side of his face had made him step back in shock. Her fingers stung with pain, and one of his hands flew up to cover his face. She knew it was a bad and impulsive move, but Rollins just made her so angry. Her anger for her husband quickly turned to guilt over what she had done.

"Elliot...oh my God, I'm so sorry." she said, reaching out to touch her husband.

"Don't fucking touch me." Rollins croaked, shoving Alison hard backwards.

He lifted the hood of his black hoodie over his head and exited their bedroom, his footsteps thundering down the stairs. Distraught over what had just escalated in a matter of moments, Alison sat down on her bed and was unable to hold back her sobs now. She listened as their front door opened and slammed shut, signaling that Rollins had indeed left.

She brought her knees to her chest and buried her face in her thighs as she listened to his car start outside. Grabbing her phone, she opened up a text message to the first person she could think of and the only person who would give her some comfort.

 **Ali: hey are you awake?**

She waited for a response, realizing it was getting later now but not too late.

 **Em: yeah, what do you need?**

 **Ali: rollins and i got into another fight and he left me**

 **Em: wait...left you like..?**

 **Ali: no not like that. like he just left to go drink with his friends.**

 **Em: ohhhh…. can i ask what happened?**

 **Ali: well things were going good and then he made it clear he wanted to have sex and i said no. he got pretty mad**

 **Em: he didn't do anything right?**

 **Ali: no, he's not like that.**

 **Em: just checking. just making sure nothing got physical between you two.**

Ali stared at Emily's text, should she tell her about how she slapped Rollins and he shoved her? She bit her lip as she thought about it, wondering what she should do.

 **Ali: yeah no, nothing like that.**

 **Em: good, i would come over if i could. do you want to talk instead?**

 **Ali: yeah sure, you can call me.**

 **Em: it's gonna be okay Ali, just know I care about you.**


	6. Chapter 6

**thanks to the viners making vines based on my fic ;) I saw you xx**

 **any fan edits of my fic will be noticed and honestly are the best things in the world**

* * *

On December 17th, Rollins left that morning just like he had planned. At eleven AM that Sunday, his suitcase was in the front hallway along with his laptop bag waiting to leave. Rollins was moving through the house, grabbing last minute items such as his phone charger and headphones for the plane ride to Vancouver.

"Alison have you seen my passport?" Rollins asked, coming into their master bathroom where Alison was doing her makeup.

"Nope, not my job to keep track of it." she replied, as she applied mascara to her left eye. "It's probably in the drawer where we keep the important papers."

Things between them were still a bit tense since that night a week or so ago. Rollins had returned home that next morning hungover and in a bad mood. He called out sick from work and stayed in their bed all day, not talking to Alison. But it wasn't like she tried, she was exhausted from talking to Emily and upset that he left in the first place.

Alison had to drive Rollins to the airport that day, and it was going to be a long drive due to the tension between them. She wasn't really looking forward to it, but she was looking forward to having the house to herself for five days. She had already spent a good twenty minutes that morning daydreaming of just relaxing in their bathtub.

When she was done doing her makeup and was satisfied with her appearance, she closed up her makeup bag and made her way downstairs where Rollins was tying up his shoes. Alison stood in the doorway, waiting for him to finish.

"So my flight boards at 1:30, and we stop in Denver. After that I'll get to Vancouver at around 6pm your time." Rollins said, picking up his suitcase. "Shall we go?"

"Yup, just was waiting on you." Alison said, opening their front door.

It was snowing lightly again. Once it started snowing that weekend after Thanksgiving, it never seemed to stop. There was already about a foot of snow on the ground, and the weatherman always talked about how there probably wasn't going to be school. He was wrong most of the time, usually it was just a delay or the roads were cleared up fast enough. During the end of the week, they were supposed to get a huge snow storm, but it was up in the air. If they did, Alison's flight would most likely be cancelled.

Like Alison predicted, the car ride was silent besides the Christmas music playing in the background. Alison's mind was elsewhere, more focused on what she was going to get people for Christmas and more importantly what she was going to get Emily. She was very into thinking of the perfect gift for Emily, more than finding one for Cece or even her husband. She didn't know what it was that made it so satisfying.

An hour or so later, Alison pulled up to the front of the airport behind a few other cars dropping off people. Many of the cars were families, trying to get their children together while they unloaded their minivans. When Alison was younger, she vowed never to be one of "those" parents, or even a parent at all. If anything, she'd only have one kid just so she didn't become one of the moms who had a minivan or watched talk shows all day. Her husband was fidgeting in his seat next to her, one of his hands was tapping the side of his seat quickly and he was looking around for the name of the company whose flight he would be taking.

"Air Canada, right there." Rollins said, pointing to the sign.

Alison saw it too, and pulled up in an open space in front of the doors. They both got out, Rollins went into the backseat and grabbed his computer bag while Alison went into the trunk to pull out his suitcase. His suitcase was heavy, but that was what was expected since he was going to be gone for about two weeks. She set it down on the ground, and closed the trunk as her husband came around the back of the car.

"I'll see you on Friday?" he asked, leaning down to kiss her quickly.

"Yeah, Friday." Alison nodded, though secretly she was dreading going.

"Let's hope that storm blows over so that you're not stuck here. Spending Christmas here alone seems like it would suck." Rollins said, his breath fogging in front of Alison's face as he chuckled.

"Yeah, well we'll see." Alison said. "You should probably get going."

"I probably should. See you soon." Rollins said, grabbing his suitcase and kissing Alison one last time.

She watched him briefly until he walked inside the sliding doors, before turning around and getting back in her car. She didn't sigh in relief truly until she had completely left the airport, happy to have a small vacation from her husband before having an actual vacation. Alison didn't know if she should call it that though, since it wouldn't be much of one for her. Spending time with his family wasn't usually her favorite way to spend Christmas, but her family wasn't much better either. But at least when she spent holidays with her family, she had CeCe to at least prevent her from going insane.

Alison was in such a good mood in fact, she was dramatically singing along to the Christmas music playing in her car. She was pretty sure everyone that looked over while on the highway thought she was absolutely nuts the way she was singing along. She herself thought she was nuts, this was definitely something she wouldn't normally do.

When she was getting close to being back in Rosewood, she hit the talk button on her car. The music immediately stopped and her car made a beeping sound.

"Call Emily Fields." she said. Her car made another beep afterward.

Emily picked up after three rings, her voice raspy. Alison probably had woken her up from sleeping.

"Hello?" Emily asked, her voice ringing in the car.

"Hey chica, you know it's past eleven. You should be awake by now." Alison laughed slightly. She smiled wider when she heard Emily's breathy laugh fill the car.

"I went to bed at two last night. Toby and I went to an Eagles game." Emily said.

"Wow, Rollins would be so jealous of you if he heard that." Alison said. "How was it?"

"It was good. I'm not a big fan of football but his dad got us really good seats and I could sort of follow along. Toby had to explain a lot of it to me though, and he kept trying to set me up with this girl who's from Ravenswood." Emily explained. Alison frowned upon hearing Emily's words.

"Who was it?" she asked, her grip tightening on the steering wheel.

"Just some girl named Sara. I gave her my number. She's really nice honestly, she and Toby were talking a lot about the game." Emily said, yawning over the phone.

"Are you guys going to date or something?" Alison asked.

"Not sure. She's nice enough, maybe we'll go out and talk or something." Emily said. "Everything is up in the air really."

"Ok...so I was calling about your plans for this evening. Rollins left and I have the house to myself. You should come over and I'll make you dinner and we'll watch a bunch of corny Christmas movies." Alison said, the thought getting her excited.

"Aw that actually sounds like so much fun." Emily sighed. "I actually have a Christmas party to go to tonight. I would skip it if it wasn't really important. The girls and I are doing secret Santa and I have to give Aria her present. We can do it another night."

"What nights are you free?" Alison asked.

"I'm free Thursday." Emily said, and Alison tapped the steering wheel with her thumbs.

"Thursday...I guess that can work. There's supposed to be a big snowstorm coming in on Thursday night, and I'm supposed to fly out to Vancouver Friday afternoon." Alison said.

"Oh yeah I forgot about that." Emily said, sounding more awake now. "Hopefully your flight isn't cancelled."

"I'm kind of hoping that it is honestly." Alison said. "Rollins's parents are a nightmare nine times out of ten."

"Well you'll have to tell me all about it Thursday night, or unless you don't want to do it." Emily said.

"No I think that'll work out."

"What should I bring?" Emily asked.

"Just your cute self. I'll provide everything. I could even get you that Mexican soda that's Sangria flavored so you can pretend you're drinking alcohol." Alison laughed.

"Wow, you're the best. See you Thursday."

* * *

On Thursday evening, Alison was making her grandma's famous chicken pot pie. She sang along slightly to the Christmas music as she chopped carrots up. It was the last night that Alison had the house to herself, and to say she was enjoying herself was an understatement. It was just her and Pepe, and that was enough for her. She glanced over at the mail on the kitchen island next to her. On it was the letter from her first book's publisher, a letter her husband failed to notice even though she made it obvious. Next to it now was a "Save the Date" invitation for Caleb Rivers and Hanna Marin. Alison was surprised that she (and guest) were invited. She didn't invite them to her wedding, probably because her wedding was in the Galapagos. Maybe Emily had something to do with her wedding invitation.

The "Save the Date" card had a cute photo of Caleb and Hanna. It was black and white photo of them, backs turned to the camera. They were sitting down on the ground outside, their yellow Labrador named Captain was next to Caleb with his back to the camera as well. There was a lake in the background of the photo, and Caleb had his head turned and was kissing Hanna's cheek. "Hanna Marin & Caleb Rivers, May 1st, 2018. Formal invitation to follow."

There was a knock on the door that snapped Ali from her thoughts. She set down her knife on the cutting board as Pepe rose from his spot. He barked and walked slowly towards the front door, Alison passed him in two easy strides. She opened the door, and on the other side stood Emily in a warm black coat, holding a pie in her arms. How she was balancing on her crutches and still holding a pie was a mystery to Alison.

"Hey." Emily smiled warmly, her mom pulling out of the driveway in her car as Ali let Emily in. "I've brought Olivia's pumpkin pie."

"Olivia made this?" Alison asked, taking the pie from Emily's hands.

"Yup, she dropped becoming a writer and wants to become a baker now." Emily said, leaning her crutches on the door as she took off her coat.

Alison went back into the kitchen and finished the two small pies, before sticking them in the oven. Emily crutched in once she took off her shoes, and Alison was able to see what she was wearing under her coat.

"Merry Christmas ya filthy animal?" Alison read Emily's sweater which had sewn into it the same words she just read.

"My favorite Christmas sweater." Emily smiled, as she leaned against the counter.

"Classic. I want one of those really badly now." Alison laughed. "Would you like some of your Sangria soda that I bought you?"

"You actually found it?" Emily chuckled watching Ali as she went into the fridge.

"I went to about eight different supermarkets but yes, I found it." Ali said, opening the seal of the soda. It made a hissing sound, and the soda contents bubbled inside the bottle. To make it more realistic, Ali poured the soda into a wine glass.

"How's your husband doing at his parents?" Emily asked, sipping her soda as Ali poured herself a glass of red wine.

"I think he's good. I've barely talked to him since he's been there. They've either been keeping him busy or he just doesn't want to talk to me." Ali said. "Would you like to sit in the living room while we wait?"

Emily followed Ali into the living room without saying a word in protest, Pepe came close behind after. Emily fell onto the couch, grunting as she prevented her leg from hitting the seat.

"We should definitely watch Christmas movies." Alison suggested, smirking as she grabbed the controller for the TV.

"Christmas movies like…?" Emily asked.

"Home Alone, or Elf. Or both." Alison suggested. "I honestly haven't watched either in years. Rollins was never into Christmas movies and I didn't want to watch them alone."

Alison turned to see Emily watching her quietly. It was as if she observing Ali, and she smiled slightly when Ali caught her looking.

"What?" Ali asked, a smile forming on her lips as well.

"Nothing. I just haven't met someone who loves the whole Christmas thing as much as I do." Emily admitted, smiling wider.

"Well, you're going to get a run for your money then." Alison winked. "Elf or Home Alone?"

"I'll let you decide." Emily said, scratching behind Pepe's ears as she broke eye contact with Ali.

"Elf it is then. If we have time later we can watch Home Alone." Ali said, turning it on and leaning back onto the sofa.

The pair fell into comfortable silence as the movie began, appreciating the mere presence of each other. Emily was warm, Ali could feel it from where she sat right next to her. Emily always seemed to be really warm, as if she was her own personal heater. She inched closer to Emily, trying to make sure that she wouldn't be noticed as she did so. Emily's eyes remained on the screen, Ali's movements seemed to go unnoticed by her.

Pepe noticed however. He lifted his head off of the ground and watched Ali, tilting his head. She immediately stopped her movements, Emily would surely notice she was closer to her now. For some reason, Ali wanted to get close to her. Maybe it was Emily's warmth that radiated off her body, she was feeling a bit cold after all. Maybe Emily just smelt really good. Whatever it was, being as close as she could to Emily seemed like her priority.

Feeling a bit bolder, she leaned to the left and was able to place her head on Emily's stomach. Emily didn't even move a fraction of an inch from where she laid on the couch. Ali could feel Emily's stomach go up and down every time she took a breath.

Without saying a word, Emily placed her arm lazily on Ali's side. Her arm was warm, just like the rest of her body. Ali felt pretty comfortable in that position, happy that Emily didn't find what she was doing weird.

"Cold?" Emily asked, barely above a whisper. Ali looked up, Emily's eyes were still glued to the screen.

"Do you mind?" Ali asked.

Emily shook her head and frowned slightly, "Not at all. Hanna used to do this all the time."

Hanna did this? No wonder Emily was unaffected, not that Alison cared.

About twenty minutes into the movie, the oven timer went off into the kitchen. Alison had become too engrossed with the movie to realize, and it was Emily who had to nudge her.

"Hey, I think the food's done." Emily said, moving her leg slightly to get Ali's attention.

"Oh shit, you're right." Ali realized, using her hand to push off of Emily so that she could sit up.

Emily gasped in pain and a small cry left her lips, as she pushed Ali's hand off of her. Without realizing, Ali had used Emily's left leg to sit up properly, totally forgetting that her leg was broken.

"Oh my God Emily, I'm so sorry!" Ali gasped, guilt springing to her voice and stomach.

"It's fine." Emily grunted, though her eyes were watering. "Just go before the food burns."

"I feel awful." Ali said, standing up but not retreating from her spot.

"Just go." Emily waved her off.

Ali left the living room, and made her way back towards the kitchen. She quickly turned off the oven and the timer that continued to beep. Peering in, she saw the chicken pot pies were cooked to perfection, and looked just like how her grandma used to make during Christmas.

She was a bit nervous on what Emily would think of the food, she hadn't made chicken pot pie in a while since her husband wasn't a fan. She bit her lip tightly as she placed both pies on separate plates for each of them. They looked good, they smelled good, but what if they didn't taste good? What if she put way too much salt and not enough chicken in?

Her nervous thoughts continued as she brought the plates into the living room where Emily was watching Elf. She didn't look in pain anymore, or at least not as bad. She laughed slightly when Buddy the Elf started pouring syrup all over his spaghetti.

"Here, I have dinner." Ali said, putting a plate down in front of Emily on the coffee table.

Emily looked at the food then smiled up at her, "I didn't know how hungry I was until I smelled this just now," Emily said, although it didn't make her any less nervous. Emily noticed, and quickly added, "It looks great Ali, thank you," Emily reassured, making Ali smile back at her.

"Let's hope it tastes as good as you say it looks Em, I haven't done this in a while," Alison admitted.

As Emily was about to reply, Alison burst into laughter as Buddy the Elf decorated Macy's for the arrival of Santa. In her fit of laughter, Alison looked over at Emily, who was looking at her.

"What are you staring at?" she asked Emily, her laughter dying out as she became self-conscious.

"Nothing, I just like your laugh." Emily answered smoothly.

Ali rolled her eyes slightly and smiled, taking a bite of the chicken pot pie before looking back at the movie.

"Okay, I'm not the one to brag anymore but this chicken pot pie is amazing." Ali said, feeling relieved over the correct taste of the chicken pot pie.

"So what are you doing for Christmas with your husband?" Emily asked, with a mouthful of food.

"Um, not really sure. It's usually pretty boring honestly. His niece's and nephew's are okay, but they're young enough that I can't have a stimulating conversation with them. His family is okay, but they have the same personality traits as peacocks, pretty stuck up." Ali said.

"Lame." Emily said. "Guess you married the wrong guy."

Ali's eyes shot up to look at Emily, but Emily was looking casually at her food. Of course she only meant it jokingly, or did she?

"So, what about you?" Alison asked. "What are you doing for your Christmas?"

"Probably nothing special. This is my first Christmas back at home since when I was a senior. I'm pretty excited, though nothing major will happen." Emily said. "I forgot how much I missed everything over here."

"I never asked, are you thinking of rejoining the army once your leg heals?" Alison asked curiously.

"I mean, I probably won't be able to be a combat medic anymore...there's a good chance that I won't be able to run or do things that I used to be able to do." Emily said. "If anything, they'll either make me do something else that doesn't involve going into combat, or they'll retire me. It all depends on my recovery."

"Do you want to retire?" Alison asked abruptly.

Emily thought about it for a moment, and bit her lip. "I-I don't know honestly. I...I don't know."

The pair continued to eat in silence, watching the movie and laughing whenever something funny happened on the screen. Alison's nerves dissipated as they ate, growing into a comfortable silence with Emily. The moments they shared like this were nice, she felt like she didn't need to keep a conversation going or to try to be perfect. She felt mellow, and relaxed.

By around ten-thirty, the food was mostly gone and the movie was over. Emily's was dozing off on Ali's shoulder, her eyes barely open in the dark room. Her breathing was becoming deeper, and Ali laughed as she could hear a faint snoring coming from Emily's nose.

"Hey, mermaid." Ali said, nudging Emily awake. Emily lifted her head, almost colliding with Ali's nose. "The movie's over."

"It is?" Emily yawned slightly. "Wow, I'm so sorry for falling asleep."

Ali laughed mildly, picking up the empty dishes on the coffee table. "It's totally fine, Em." she said.

"I should probably call my mom then." Emily said, lifting herself up slightly to pull out her phone.

Ali stopped in the doorway to the living room, and turned around. "No, you don't have to do that." she said, shaking her head.

"Huh?"

"You're tired, it's pretty late. Are you sure you don't want to just crash here?" Ali asked.

"Are you sure? Don't feel obligated to have me stay at your house." Emily said.

"No, no. I want you here. It's been kind of lonely with just me and Pepe." Ali said. "Let me just go take care of these dishes, we can watch Home Alone upstairs in my room."

* * *

"Wow, nice room." Emily said, when she walked into Alison and Rollin's shared bedroom.

Alison didn't respond as she crossed the room to her closet. It wasn't that her room wasn't nice, she just didn't know how to respond. Everything in their room was highend, per her husband's request, but really didn't show any of the character Alison would've liked to a bedroom. The bed spread was white, the furniture also white. The walls were a navy blue, which was the only color in the room besides their clothes.

"I'm guessing you need some PJ's?" Alison asked, walking into her closet.

"Yeah, it's pretty uncomfortable to sleep in jeans." Emily admitted, as Ali grabbed a Rosewood Sharks t-shirt and black cloth shorts for Emily. She grabbed herself pajamas as well, before exiting the closet and back into her bedroom.

"Here, these should be good." Alison said, tossing the shirt and shorts at Emily casually. Emily caught them, almost dropping her crutches from under her arms in the process.

Throwing her own pajamas on her side of her and Rollin's bed, Ali grabbed her shirt and turned her back to Emily, lifting it over her head to begin getting changed. She unsnapped and shrugged out of her bra just as quickly, finally able to be in extremely comfortable clothes. She glanced at Emily in the mirror by her closet, only to see Emily glancing at her back. A slight tingling sensation filled Alison upon seeing Emily look at her.

She pulled her t-shirt on, and quickly shed her jeans for fleece pajama pants. Emily took longer to get changed then Ali did, probably because she had to take off her leg brace and put it back on. As Emily changed, Ali worked on pulling up Home Alone on the TV that was on the wall near their bed. She tried her best not to turn around to look at Emily, it took all her effort to stay focused on setting up Home Alone.

"You can lay down you know." Ali said, tapping Rollin's side of the bed with the base of her hand.

Emily stared at the spot, rooted to where she stood.

"Em?"

"I actually think I should get going." Emily said suddenly, walking awkwardly across the room to grab her crutches and clothes.

"Hey hey, wait. Where are you going?" Ali asked, stepping in front of Emily to stop her.

"I don't know, I just don't think it's a good idea for me to stay." Emily shrugged, her eyes downcasted to the floor to avoid Ali's.

"Why not?" Ali asked, trying to follow Emily's eyes so that she could catch them. "Emily, tell me what's wrong."

Emily looked up, but her eyes remained on Ali's neck at the most. They didn't dare go higher to look Ali straight on.

"Ali, why do you let other people treat you like shit?" Emily asked.

"What?" Alison asked, her heart dropping.

"You let your husband walk all over you, and it makes me mad. Not at you, not at him. Just in general, people don't get what they deserve. There's a burning pain for what we deserve, but no one seems to get it. Life isn't fair like that." Emily said. "And you let Rollins treat you like shit, when you deserve so much more. It's saddening and frustrating knowing that you really could have it all."

Emily looked up, her dark brown eyes piercing Ali's as she searched for an emotion on Ali's straight face. Ali's lips parted slightly, unable to form a sentence to say in response. Emily's breathing was slight, as if she was holding her breath in anticipation. She glanced at Emily's lips, which were slightly chapped and dry. She looked back up at Emily's eyes, which were screaming in anticipation.

Instead of responding verbally, something snapped inside Alison. Ever since Ali and Emily had reunited, there was something inside Alison that was almost like a rubberband. It was being stretched over the course of Emily's time back in Rosewood, to a point where the tension was becoming too great. And tonight, the rubberband had snapped.

Alison quickly stepped forward, and placed a hand on the back of Emily's neck. She pulled forcefully on Emily's neck, causing Emily to lower her head as Alison harshly trapped Emily's bottom lip between her own. She bit her lip slightly and pulled Emily towards her until she was pressed against her body, doing all of this before Emily.

Something in Emily seemed to have snapped too, and once she registered what was happening, she was kissing Alison back with as much force and hunger as Ali. Ali's other hand went up to Emily's face, cupping it slightly as teeth hit against one another and tongues met.

Emily was the first person that Alison had kissed in over four years, and it was different. New. Emily's lips were soft, hungry, and Alison didn't want to stop even if she had the will power too. There was a fire deep within her that needed a release, any release.

Emily pushed slightly, causing Alison to take a step backward. Emily continued pushing on Alison's until the backs of her legs had hit the bed. She allowed Emily to push her back onto the bed, lips never leaving each other's as she climbed on top of Ali. Emily grunted into Ali's mouth as she hit her braced leg against the bed, and favored her right leg as she balanced her weight on top of Ali.

Emily released Ali's lips quickly, both girls were winded and breathing heavily. Alison could feel her lips getting swollen, but before she could react, Emily's lips were on her neck. She wasn't just leaving kisses on her neck, she was practically eating her neck. Emily would nip slightly before quickly soothing the spot over with her tongue, then leave open mouthed kisses down her neck. It was a process that had Alison gripping Emily's hair with one hand, as she trailed a hand under the back of Emily's shirt to touch bare skin.

It wasn't until Emily's hands slid down Alison's body and reached the waistband of her shorts that Alison really registered what was happening. She didn't protest, but Emily didn't advance anymore than leave her two pointer fingers tucked in the waistband. Emily pulled her lips away from Ali's, and pressed the bridge of her nose to Ali's. Their lips were a few centimeters away, breathing each other's air.

"Are you ok?" Emily asked, tugging ever so slightly on Ali's waistband.

Ali nodded, trying to catch her breath and respond, but her head was swimming.

"Yeah, keep going." she mumbled breathlessly.

"Yeah?" Emily whispered.

"Yeah."

* * *

 **thank you for all the support, reviewing really does help since it gives me a sense of how you guys felt of the chapter. it would mean a lot if you reviewed to tell me how i did, so that i'm motivated to write more.**


	7. Chapter 7

When Ali awoke, she was wrapped in warmth. Her body was bare, and the person she was lying on's body was also bare. The covers surrounded her and ended at her lower back, trapping her warmth within while leaving everywhere above her back exposed and bare. She felt warm inside, just like the outside. The bridge of her nose was pressed to the warm neck of the person she was lying on, and she breathed in their smell. It was a mix of sweat and perfume, and it smelt really good. Her arms were around the person's neck, and she rose up and down slightly whenever they breathed.

She had just realized the sound of her phone ringing, breaking the silence in the room. Her eyes fluttered open, as she squeezed the person slightly with her arms. Carmel colored skin and dark brown hair filled her eyesight, but Ali could barely see in the dark room. Her clock on her bedside table read 4:32AM, a weird hour for someone to be calling.

Without thinking much of it, she pushed slightly off Emily and reached for her cellphone.

"Hello?" Ali mumbled, sleep evident in her voice.

"Hello, this is an automated message from Rosewood Public Schools. All schools and school activities for, Friday, December 22nd, 2017, will be closed. Repeat, all schools and school activities for Friday, December 22nd, 2017, will be closed." the automated message said.

Alison hung up, slightly relieved she wasn't going to have to get up for school in half an hour anyway. She sat up slightly, letting the covers fall from her naked body as she opened her flight information. She squinted as her eyes adjusted to the bright light, reading over any reports on her flight.

"Flight 12445 AirCanada, Philadelphia to Vancouver at 3:15PM has been delayed to 5:30PM due to inclement weather."

"Who was that?" Emily mumbled, sitting up slightly. Her eyes were squinted as she looked at Ali, her hair disheveled and her face scrunched up.

"Oh, no one. Just the school, I wonder how badly it snowed." Ali said, pushing the covers back as she rose from bed.

She crossed her bedroom and peered out of her window, looking out into the dark night. There was a lot more snow on the ground than before, and from the looks of it, there was still snow coming down on the ground.

"Wow, it's pretty bad out there." Ali said, turning around to see Emily watching her.

"That's great, well I'm exhausted so I'm going back to sleep." Emily said, falling back onto the pillows. "C'mere and join."

Smiling slightly and shaking her head, Alison crossed back over towards the bed and crawled on top of the sheets towards Emily. She hovered right above Emily's face, waiting for Emily to open her eyes again. Emily's eyes fluttered open lazily as she looked up at Ali,

"Hi." Emily said, smiling.

"Hi." Alison replied, though the happy feeling inside her soon turned into a sinking one.

Ali immediately snuggled back into Emily, wrapping her arms around her chest and she carefully laid back on top of her. Emily's arm automatically grabbed Ali's hips, pulling her up towards her to get comfortable. Emily sighed deeply, as one of her hands absentmindedly reached up to stroke Ali's hair.

The pair fell back asleep together, their bodies intertwined in soft warmth. For Ali, she hadn't felt as happy as she was then in two years but, now she wasn't so sure about what she was going to do. Although what happened felt right, she knew that she was going to have to make a decision.

* * *

It was close to ten when Emily stirred underneath Alison, the weight of her body was pressing on Emily's upper chest. Alison had her in an arm lock, holding tightly to Emily's waist as she slept peacefully on her. Using her free left hand, she pushed the stray hair out of her face and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

Emily sat up slightly, causing Alison to take a deep breath and move. She must've woken her just by moving, what a light sleeper. Alison lifted her head from Emily's chest and squinted her eyes, her blue eyes focusing on what was going on around her.

"What time is it?" Alison asked, her voice raspy with sleep.

"I think it's around ten." Emily sighed, letting her head fall back onto the pillow. "My mom's probably wondering where I am."

"Who cares where your mom thinks you are, you're an adult." Alison frowned. "You're 23."

Emily sighed, knowing Alison was probably right.

"And besides, it's not like you can go anywhere. The streets are a mess from what I saw earlier." she added, releasing Emily from her grip to turn her back to her and lay back down. "Now let me sleep, I'm still tired."

"Does this mean you're not going to Vancouver?" Emily asked, looking at Alison's hair.

Alison didn't respond immediately, "I don't know." she said. "The flight was cancelled so."

"Does Rollins know that?" Emily asked.

"Can we not talk about my husband right now? Thanks." Alison snapped, burying her head under the pillows. "I'm going back to sleep."

Emily sighed again and pushed the light gray duvet off of her. She carefully swung her legs over the bed, and began to get up to find her clothes.

"Where are you going?" Alison asked, turning over to watch Emily through the pillows that covered her head.

"Relax, I'm just putting clothes on. It's not like I can go anywhere." Emily said, balancing herself as she picked up her shirt off the ground.

Alison's phone began buzzing from the bedside table in long vibrations. Alison let out another loud groan which was muffled due to the pillows that still covered her head.

"Who the fuck!" Alison yelled, but lifted her head from her pillow fort to hastily grab her phone. "Oh, oops."

She slid her thumb across her phone and pushed her hair away to lift her cellphone to her ear.

"Hey!" she said, her voice instantly changing from snappy and annoyed to happy and sweet.

Emily couldn't hear the person who was talking, but she could hear Alison's responses as she busied herself with finding and putting back on her clothes.

"No! No, everything's fine here." Alison said happily.

Emily hopped across the room and picked up her neatly folded clothes, and replaced them with the disheveled pajamas of Alison's that she had worn for about fifteen minutes maximum.

"Yeah, the flight was delayed. It got cancelled entirely, the road's are still shit." Alison said, laughing slightly.

Emily pulled on her tanktop and sweater, and sat down on the edge of the bed to remove her leg brace so that she could pull her jeans back on.

"Yeah, I don't know about the rescheduling thing. Cece called last night and said she's been having a rough two days...I feel bad, but I'm always here for her and I don't want to leave her now especially when she isn't doing well." Alison easily lied, and if Emily didn't know, she would've sounded like she was telling the full truth. "No! It's not that I don't want to see you. She really is just having a bad few days, that's really it."

Emily could faintly hear the sharp voice of a man coming from Alison's phone as she pulled on her jeans as Alison's husband responded. "I wouldn't skip Christmas with your family in Vancouver if it wasn't important."

Alison sighed, and Emily turned to look at her as Alison ran a hand through her blonde hair.

"Yeah, I know. I'll make it up to you." Alison said, looking out the window. "Yes, I promise."

Emily buttoned her jeans, and turned to watch Alison fully as she began playing with a loose string of the bed sheet.

"Yes, I will...I love you too...bye." Alison said, removing the phone from her ear to hang up.

Emily frowned and looked down at the duvet, she still loved her husband? Well of course, he was her husband afterall.

"Hey, are you ok?" Alison asked, as she pushed Emily's chin up with her finger. Emily met Alison's curious eyes, how did she get over to Emily so silently?

"What?" Emily asked. "Me? Yeah, I'm fine."

Alison watched Emily for a moment, and chewed her bottom lip subconsciously.

"Hey, I think we need to talk about what happened last night." Alison said.

"What about it?" Emily asked.

"I think it's for the best that what happened remains a one time thing and that it stays between us." Alison said.

Emily looked over at Alison, who had wrapped the duvet around her body snuggly. Emily knew something along the lines of that coming, though a part of her hoped it wouldn't. A small sense of relief washed over her though, cancelling out some of the feeling that her heart was sinking.

"Yeah I agree." Emily said, trying to smile slightly.

"You do?" Alison asked, her eyebrows raising in surprise.

"Definitely." Emily nodded, trying to convince herself more than the girl in front of her.

"I really don't want to let this come between our friendship." Alison said, her voice thick with guilt. "I just needed some form of release with all the things going on in my life, and I'm so sorry that I used you to help with that."

"I get it. And, we don't have to let this come between us. Really, we can forget this happened." Emily said. At this point she didn't care, but would do whatever she could to have Alison remain her friend. Despite what she was feeling inside.

"That means a lot to me Emily." Alison said, smiling slightly.

Emily allowed herself to be pulled into a hug, and tried to her best to hug Alison as tightly as she was being hugged. At the same time, she also tried to avoid the fact that Alison was still wearing absolutely nothing as she hugged her.

When Alison released Emily, she touched the tip of her finger to Emily's nose, and Emily couldn't help but smile, despite the agreement they came to.

"The offer is still up by the way." Emily said, trying her hardest to keep her eyes locked with Alison's.

"What offer?" Alison asked.

"If you don't want to go to Vancouver, you're more than welcome to spend Christmas with us. My mom would be more than happy."

"I may just take you up on that offer." Alison smiled. "Thanks for thinking of me."

"Of course." Emily nodded, the corners of her mouth tipping into a smile. "You know if you are okay with eating with one of your students."

"It wouldn't be the most awkward thing I've ever done." Alison shrugged. "Do you think she'll be okay with it?"

"Um, she probably will be." Emily sighed, biting her lip. Christmas Eve was Olivia's mom's birthday, she would probably be too preoccupied with that on her mind to worry about her teacher being in the same room as her outside of school. Emily also just had recently found out that her mom had been moved from rehab to Riverside Correctional Facility. Her mom was being charged with heroin distribution and was awaiting her trial.

Olivia hadn't contacted her mom, didn't return the letters she got or even mentioned her mom besides when Emily's father gave her news on her mother's condition.

"Sounds good. Let me just take a quick shower and I can take you home. You can take a shower after me if you want." Alison said, getting up from the bed.

Acting like nothing happened.

* * *

When the doorbell rang at six-fifteen on Christmas Eve, Emily sprung from her spot on the couch. She walked steadily to the door, her strides awkward due to the brace on her leg.

"I got it!" she called out, passing through the front hallway to her front door.

She eagerly grabbed the handle and pulled the door open, revealing a smiling Alison on the other side with a large bowl of sweet potatoes with brown sugar and pecans.

"Merry Christmas!" Alison said, the side smile on her face revealed her dimples.

Alison was wearing a maroon sweater and a white knit infinity scarf. She looked particularly good to Emily, but in the past two days, Alison had looked way more attractive to Emily anyways.

"Hey! Glad you made it!" Emily smiled. "Come on in."

Emily stepped to the side to allow Alison to walk through, watching Alison look Emily up and down.

"It's weird seeing you without crutches now." Alison said. "I'm so used to you having them."

"Yeah well, Doctor Kingston thought that since I passed the six week mark, I wouldn't be needing them anymore. It doesn't hurt to walk or anything, but my leg is still healing so I have to keep the brace on." Emily said, closing the front door.

"And when does it fully heal?" Alison asked, as Emily took the bowl of sweet potatoes from her.

"Probably April, then I start physical therapy. I feel like we've been over this." Emily said, watching Alison remove her coat.

"We have, I just want to make sure that nothing has changed." Ali said. "Should I follow you?"

"Yeah, let me introduce you to my dad, you've already met my mom and all." Emily said, leading Alison toward the living room.

Wayne was crouched down at their large Christmas tree in the living room, which was lit up with an abundance of lights and homemade ornaments. He was wearing a forest green sweater, the same color of the tree that he was watering.

"Hey dad, I got someone to introduce you to when you're done." Emily said, watching her dad struggle to pour the water into the tree holder.

"Just a second Emmy, this damn tree has so many branches I can't fit the water in." her dad grunted.

Alison laughed slightly behind her, as Wayne abandoned the spot under the tree and began to stand up.

"Oh boy, definitely not as young as I used to be." he joked, as he set down the empty water jug on the side table.

"Dad, this is my, uh, good friend Ali." Emily said, side stepping to allow her dad to properly see Alison.

Her father's eyebrows raised slightly when he first saw Ali, and quickly looked at Emily before looking back at Ali.

"Well Alison, it's very nice to meet you." Emily's father smiled brightly, and held out his hand to shake Alison's. "Call me Wayne."

"Hi! Thank you so much for letting me spend Christmas in your house, it means a lot." Alison said, shaking his hand and smiling widely. "And call me Ali."

"Well Ali, it's always nice to see bright young faces around this household. You're welcome here anytime you want." Wayne said. "I was just about to turn on A Christmas Story and then make some Christmas cocktails, are you interested?"

"Sure! That sounds great." Alison said.

"Well, we're going to go take the sweet potatoes into the kitchen. Is Olivia okay up in her room?" Emily asked, glancing at the stairs.

"Uh...yeah. I think she's doing okay." Wayne sighed. "She's been a bit under the weather today, but you know how it is."

"Did she ever answer my offer about going to visit Aunt Rowan?" Emily asked.

"No, you'll have to ask her again if she comes down for dinner." Wayne said. "I'm going to go make those drinks. Do you want a soda or anything?"

"I'm good for now, but thanks dad."

Emily turned away and began walking towards her kitchen, with Alison close behind.

"Hey mom, Ali's here." Emily said, setting the sweet potatoes down on the counter.

Pam looked up from stirring string beans in a pot, and smiled instantly when she saw Ali enter the kitchen.

"Oh! Mrs. Rollins, welcome! We're so glad you could come!" Pam said, abandoning her cooking to hug Ali tightly.

"Thank you so much for having me!" Alison said, hugging Pam as tightly back. "And please, it's Ali."

"Oh, I'm sorry. The only time I've met you was at school for Olivia, I should've known." Pam said, picking up her wooden spoon again.

"No don't worry! Really it's fine." Alison said.

"Well I'm sure Emily will get you all situated for now." Pam said.

"Yeah, we're just going to go up to my room for a bit. I was maybe going to check on Olivia." Emily said, leaning on the doorframe to the kitchen.

"You probably should, she's been up in her room all day." Pam said, a hint of sadness in her voice. Ali raised an eyebrow and glanced at Emily, who shook her head in response, but began beckoning her to follow.

Both girls left the kitchen and climbed the flight of stairs that led to the upper level of Emily's house. Emily went first, taking her time as she took a step and swung her booted leg up the stairs. It was faster than when she was on crutches, but still not at fast.

"I'll get the goddamn hang of this soon." Emily mumbled, as Ali stayed a step behind her, following behind Emily with each step.

"You're fine, don't worry." Ali said, reaching up to touch Emily's lower back.

"Oh Ali!" Wayne called, entering the front hallway where the stairs were. Ali turned and withdrew her hand from Emily's back, turning around to see Wayne holding a glass in his hand. "I made you your drink, a mixture I like to call 'Peppermint Wayne.'"

"Peppermint Wayne?" Emily asked, as Ali smiled and reached out for the drink. "How creative."

"Thank you so much Mr. Fields." Ali said. "I love peppermint."

"Oh please Ali, it's Wayne." Wayne said, smiling up at her. "I'll see you girls at dinner."

Emily raised her eyebrows slightly, but reached out to touch Ali slightly.

"Come on, let's go upstairs." she said, as she began her climb up the stairs again.

They passed Olivia's room, which was silent within. If Emily hadn't been told that she was in there, she wouldn't have guessed that there was anyone inside it. Emily paused in front of the door, listening for any sort of noise to come from the room. She raised her hand to knock, but relented in the last second.

As she withdrew her hand, she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Alison giving her a sad smile.

"Maybe you should give her space for now. You can tell me what happened when we get to your room." she whispered, so soft that Emily had to strain to hear her.

Emily nodded mutely, and turned to continue her way down the hallway to her room. She opened the door and walked in, immediately sitting down on her bed to adjust the boot on her leg.

"Wow, I see you've changed your room up a bit." Alison said, sipping her drink as she looked around.

"Well you know, the room was basically a timestamp of five years ago and I figured if I was going to be spending a lot of time here, I might as well update it." Emily shrugged.

The only thing that really changed in Emily's room was the decor. She took down her old swimming Olympic posters that she had hung up in awestruck as she dreamed of being one of the girls on the team. The posters were instead replaced with pictures of she and her friends. Most of the photos were a bit old, but most were from the five years that she was in service. That one month she got to spend at home, she would spend as much time as she could with her best friends. This time it was as if she barely saw them. Times really changed, but she understood how busy their lives were.

Alison walked over to Emily's bedside table, and lifted the lid to Emily's music box that she got from Aria for her birthday.

"Wow, when did you get this?" Ali asked, listening to the delicate music stream softly from within the box.

"Aria got it for me for my birthday." Emily said, spreading herself out on her new deep purple bed spread.

"Damn, and I thought I was good at giving presents." Alison said, setting her drink down on the bedside table. She took a seat next to Emily, as she continued to listen to the music box.

"So I guess you're going to want to hear about what happened with Olivia and why she's acting like this." Emily said, sitting up. Ali moved closer to Emily and picked up the book Emily was currently reading for her bedside table.

"If you would like." Ali said. "I know only a little from what I was told from a teacher's perspective."

"Right...so, the whole reason Olivia is staying with my parents for an extended period of her time is because her mom, has some problems. Substance abuse problems, and Olivia was caught up in that unfortunately. For most of her life, we didn't hear from Olivia or her mom. It really scared my dad sometimes, since it is his sister after all." Emily explained, she sighed and ran a hand through her hair. Alison was watching her, giving Emily all her attention. She reached out and squeezed one of Emily's hands lightly. "She had never really been in a stable family situation, always moving, always introduced to her mom's new boyfriend. When my aunt was arrested and charged with the distribution of heroin, Olivia was going to be put into the system. My parents, being who they are, decided to take Olivia in. It was just the two of them now that I was gone, and I think my dad felt obligated to help take care of his only sister's daughter."

"He felt obligated because he was her brother?" Alison asked softly, tracing a pattern into the back of Emily's hand absentmindedly.

"That, and I think he feels that it's his fault that his sister got into the situations that she was in. He was a bit older than her, about fourteen years. So by the time she got to that critical age, he was expecting me with my mom." Emily said. "I think it hangs over him, and I think he feels that he could've prevented it in someway. My dad's like that, he thinks he can save everyone from the evils of the world. I think that's why he joined the army."

"Like how you joined the army?" Alison asked, bumping into Emily slightly. "I see you have that trait in common."

Emily let out a breathy laugh, "No, I joined because I thought I could help people from their injuries. Not that I could save them from the evil of the world."

"Oh it's the same thing Emily Fields! Don't lie to yourself." Alison teased.

"Anyway, he thought he would take in Olivia. It's been hard for her, but you probably know very well how it's been with her since you do teach her. I just, don't know how to help her." Emily admitted. "I know what it's like to have a shitty teenage life, but I don't really know how to reach out to her."

"You don't have to formally reach out to her, Em." Alison said. "Just showing that you care for her and that she's in a safe place is all she will need from you for now. If she wants to come around and tell you her feelings, she will. I know how she feels with the weird family life, I was never close with either of my parents. I think she's going to turn out to be an amazing person Emily. I can see it, she has three amazing supporters in her life right now."

"Since when did you become an advice giver?" Emily asked, smiling slightly at Ali's words.

"Well when you have a hus-..." Alison's stopped, the words catching in her throat. "I mean, I did minor in psychology afterall. You didn't tell me why Christmas Eve is such a touchy day for her?"

"Oh right, well it's my aunts birthday. I think she's 32."

"She was seventeen when she had Olivia?" Alison asked.

"Yeah, dropped out of high school and everything." Emily sighed. "We don't know who the father is but she does. She never told us his name but she said he was an older college man, with smoldering brown eyes and white skin."

Alison picked up her drink from the table, "Well, thank you for sharing." she said, sipping her drink. "Your dad really does make a good drink."

"Well he'll be glad to hear that. Maybe he'll let it get to his head and quit his job to become a bartender." Emily said, watching Ali take another sip of her drink.

"Maybe you should become the bartender." Alison said.

Emily laughed, "As if."

The pair continued to talk about anything they could think of as they sat on Emily's bed. They were too busy laughing about old high school memories to worry about anything.

"Hey girls," Pam said, interrupting their laughing fit over a particular photo in the school yearbook. "Dinner's ready."

"Thanks mom." Emily said, her laughing dying down as Pam gave her a knowing look. Thankfully Alison didn't see it, it was a look that Pam used to give Emily back in high school whenever a girl was in her room that wasn't Hanna, Spencer, or Aria.

Both girls rose from Emily's bed and made their way downstairs, still laughing over the memories. Emily could hear the soft Christmas music from the top of the stairs, echoing throughout the house. Olivia's door was still closed, and Emily figured that they wouldn't be seeing her for dinner.

The dining room was decorated with different Christmas knick knacks, and garland was strung around the room at various places. On the table was dishes of food that Emily's mom had made, if her dad ever tried to make something it would be macaroni and cheese.

Emily took her usual seat in the dining room, and Alison slid into the seat next to her. Wayne was already sitting in his usual spot at the head of the table, typing away on his phone.

"What happened to the no phones rule?" Emily asked, watching her father struggle to type.

"Sorry Emmy, just checking an important message." Wayne said. In one movement he locked his phone and took off his reading glasses. "You hungry?"

"Very." Emily said, as soft feet were heard at the top of the stairs.

Emily looked over to see Olivia coming down the stairs, dressed in a maroon beanie and a forest green sweater. Her facial expression was blank, though Emily wasn't expecting much from her.

"Hey Liv, joining for dinner?" Wayne asked, as Pam brought in food.

Olivia stopped in the doorway and looked directly at Ali, eyebrows raising in surprise as she realized her English teacher was sitting in her dining room.

"Um, hi?" Olivia asked, looking at Ali.

"I didn't know you would be here." Olivia said, keeping her eyes on Ali as she sat across from her.

"I invited her." Emily spoke up. "If you don't mind."

"Oh this is great! All of us together for Christmas! It's really great to have you Alison." Pam said, sitting down at her normal spot after everything had been brought out.

Dinner started off well for Emily. Olivia didn't talk much, only giving one word responses to the questions she was asked. Other than that, she remained silent and stared down at her plate. She barely at any of her food, but Pam didn't remark about it.

"I'm going back upstairs. I don't feel good." Olivia said abruptly, throwing her napkin down on the table as she rose from her seat.

"Olivia please sit." Pam said, sighing.

"I said I don't feel good!" Olivia said, hurrying out of the dining room. Her voice was quivering and Emily swore she saw tears in her eyes.

The table remained silent for a few minutes, they even stopped eating as well.

Next to her, Alison's chair scraped the floor and she stood up.

"If you don't mind, I was wondering if I could talk to Olivia." Alison said.

"Oh Ali, you don't have to. I'm not sure she would listen to you. She sure doesn't listen to any of us." Pam said.

"Yeah Ali, really. She'll be fine." Emily said, looking up at the blonde next to her.

Ali bit her bottom lip softly. "Really, I can sort of relate to the situation she's been in. If I could please just try to talk to her…"

"Go ahead Ali. You're her English teacher. You may not be her family, but you must see her enough to understand." Wayne said.

"Thank you." Ali smiled. "It'll only be a few minutes."

* * *

Ali knocked on Olivia's door tentatively, her hand falling to turn the door knob. She turned slowly, and opened the door to a pitch black room. The sound of sniffling came from inside, and a small cough.

"Go away!" a broken voice called out. "I just want to sleep."

"It's me." Ali said gently, testing her waters by opening the door wider and stepping into the room.

Olivia didn't respond, and Ali took it as an ok sign to fully enter the room.

"I said leave me alone!" Olivia said again, which followed by the sound of sobbing.

"Olivia, please." Alison pleaded. "I just want to talk to you. Just give me five minutes."

Olivia sniffled, "Five minutes. Then can you please leave me alone?"

"Of course." Ali said, closing the door. "Can I turn a light on at least?"

"Yeah whatever."

Ali felt around for a light switch, illuminating the room so she could actually see in front of her. Olivia was sitting on her bed, her knees pulled up to her chest and her head was buried in her knees. Her room was decorated lightly, and Ali recognized some of the posters on Olivia's wall as being some that used to hang in Emily's room.

Ali crossed the room and tentatively sat down next to Olivia who kept her head buried in her knees. She was still crying causing instant guilt to pulse through Ali's veins.

"Hi I…" she began, reaching out instinctively to rub Olivia's back comfortingly. She felt awful for what Olivia was going through, and felt even more awful maybe because she was related to Emily.

Realizing at that moment her words wouldn't mean much to Olivia, she gently pulled on Olivia to come towards her. Olivia instantly melted into Alison, and wrapped her arms around Alison's middle. Alison wrapped her arms around her and rested her chin on Olivia's head as Olivia cried into her shoulder.

Alison continued to stroke Olivia's back comfortingly, allowing Olivia to let it all out.

"I know." Alison would mumbled occasionally. "I know."

When Olivia's crying slowly began to die down, Ali removed her chin from the top of Olivia's head and looked at her.

"I heard about what's going on with your mom." Alison said, moving away from Olivia. She reached out to hold her hand comfortingly. "I can see you're not taking it very well."

"My mom is fucked up Mrs. Rollins." Olivia said, wiping her eyes with her free hand.

"Hey Olivia. Outside of school my name is Ali. Since I'm your cousin's friend, if that helps." Ali said.

"And I know your life is shit right now." Ali said. "Life gets shit for 99% of the people in this world. You just need to know how to work through that and make your life better."

"You don't get it, it's been like this my whole life. My mom wouldn't come home sometimes, and I would stay up waiting for you. I would see her inject herself with heroin, it's awful. All she wanted was her next fix, and she would do anything to get that. She sold everything we had, she even sold the stuffed panda that I had when I was seven." Olivia explained. "I don't know how I was able to stay through that-"

"See! You've already been through so much, look how strong you already are at sixteen." Alison said, meaningfully. "My mother wasn't a drug addict, but I know what it's like for her to not be fully there. I didn't and still don't think my mom loves me."

Olivia sniffled, "Today is just so hard because I know she wants to see me but I feel awful. She never did anything for me and now she's saying she misses me and wants me to visit."

"You don't have to visit if you don't want to." Ali said. "But she may want to see you. Even though you have gone through so much, you are her daughter."

"I know." Olivia said. "I just don't want to be hurt again."

"You won't be hurt by her, not while she's paying her sentence. She's going to get help and maybe she'll get better. For now, you have three amazing people here to support you who love you so much. I know Emily loves you and cares for you SO much." Alison said. "Believe me, Emily gives her whole self to the people she loves."

"I didn't know you guys were friends." Olivia said.

"We reconnected recently. But if you want to go see your mom tonight to say happy birthday, or maybe find some closure, it may do you well." Ali said, rubbing her knee.

Olivia was hesitant to respond, "Well...I don't know."

"Think about it. If you want, I'll drive you. Emily and I will be with you through every step of the way. Trust me." Ali said.

Olivia sighed, "Maybe...maybe we can go tonight. Will you really take me?"

"Of course."

* * *

Olivia was sitting nervously in the seat, tapping her hand on the table as she waited for her mom to be brought in to see her. She, Emily, and Ali, had a piece of glass separating them from Olivia's mom. A phone receiver was hanging next to Olivia for when she and her mom would talk. Ali and Emily were standing next to each other, holding hands because to say they weren't nervous as well was a lie.

There was a monotonous buzzer and a woman came into view with a police escorting her. She had shoulder length short wavy black hair, and a sunken face. Alison realized that she must've been very beautiful once, but the years of drug addiction had made the beauty disappear. She was wearing an orange jumpsuit and was handcuffed in front, and she smiled slightly upon seeing her daughter.

She sat down in the chair across from Olivia, the glass was the only thing that separated them. Both of them picked up the phone and held it tentatively to their ears.

"Hi." Olivia said.

Rowan said something in response, but neither Emily or Ali could hear her. Her voice was emitting from the phone, Olivia was the only one that could hear her.

Ali watched as they exchanged a few more words, and Olivia turned around to look at them.

"My mom says hi Emily and that she hopes you're ok from what happened in Afghanistan. Your dad wrote her a letter about what happened." Olivia said.

"Tell her I said hi." Emily smiled weakly.

"She said hi…oh that's Ali. She's actually my English teacher. Yeah I know she's beautiful." Olivia said, removing her ear from the phone. "My mom says you're really beautiful."

"Tell her I said thank you." Ali smiled.

Olivia and Rowan talked, the atmosphere was light. Alison was surprised how well it was going, and Rowan seemed like a very nice woman.

"I know you're sober mom...but you're going to be in here for a little while…" Olivia said sadly. "Uncle Wayne and Aunt Pam said they were thinking of adopting me."

"You never mentioned that." Ali whispered.

"I didn't know they were that serious about it." Emily said.

"Rowan kind of looks like you." Ali smiled.

"I got that a lot more back when she looked like a model." Emily sighed.

"Are you going to let them?" Olivia asked her mom. "...Yes I want them too. It's nice being with them, even if I don't act like it."

At one point Olivia and her mom were crying, from what Alison could make out on Rowan's lips, she was apologizing.

"Mom I can't go back to an unsteady home. I'm finally in a place I'm not scared to be in. I don't feel like I could die at Uncle Wayne's house. It feels safe, and...I feel happier." Olivia said, wiping her eyes.

Alison gripped Emily's hand tighter as she watched the heart to heart between mother and daughter.

Shortly after, a police officer came in behind Rowan.

"Visiting time is up." he said. "Say your goodbyes."

Olivia wiped her tears, "I'll come back soon. I'll write, I promise...happy birthday and Merry Christmas…..yes...I love you too. Bye mom."

Alison and Emily left the prison close to tears, with Olivia already in tears as they arrived at the car. Olivia fell asleep during the car ride home, curled up in the backseat as Alison drove in silence.

"Pretty powerful huh." Emily mumbled.

"It really makes you appreciate what you have in life." Alison agreed.

* * *

They arrived home after midnight, and Olivia was still out like a light. Wayne came out and carried her upstairs to her room, thanking for Alison for helping with her family situation. Emily remarked that Wayne used to carry Emily to her room all the time when she was younger.

Pam was in the kitchen, a long envelope in her hand. She was staring down at it, her bottom lip between her teeth.

"Hey mom, I'm surprised you're still up." Emily said, giving her mom a side hug. "What's up?"

"Olivia's birth certificate came in the mail." Pam said, tapping on the envelope. "In order for her to be adopted, we have to get consent from both of Olivia's parents."

"Her dad's listed on the birth certificate?" Emily asked, frowning as Alison moved towards the pair.

"Apparently so." Pam sighed. "Well, just staring at it isn't going to make it any easier."

Wayne entered the kitchen just as Pam began opening the seal to the envelope, his face becoming very serious as he realized what was going on.

"Whoever this guy was, hopefully he has a unique enough name that it won't be hard to track him down." Wayne mumbled.

Pam pulled the certificate out of the envelope, and looked down at the print. Emily moved to look behind Pam to read the print on the certificate.

Emily read the certificate,

 **Olivia Danielle Fields date of birth: 4-27-01**

 **Mother's Name: Rowan Madison Fields**

 **Birthplace: Pennsylvania Age: 17**

Emily stopped at the father's name, and read it over five times to make sure she was reading the right name. She looked up at Ali, beckoning her forward to look at the certificate.

 **Father's Name: Elliot Patrick Rollins**

 **Birthplace: Vancouver Age: 20**

* * *

 **Reviewing really helps!**


	8. Chapter 8

"No, no. My husband is _not_ Olivia's father." Alison frowned, as she read over Olivia's birth certificate. It had to be coincidental, but then again how many Elliot Patrick Rollins were there that were born in Vancouver?

"Ali…" Emily said, soothingly. "I know it seems weird right now but-"

"Wait," Wayne said, cutting off Emily as he rubbed his temple. "I know Olivia has a photo of Rowan and her birth father. She didn't let any of us see it, but I think I know where she keeps it."

"Will she get mad?" Pam asked. "We would be invading her privacy."

"Honey, this could help us adopt her. Alison can confirm if the man in the photo is her husband or not, and if he isn't we'll have to find him somehow." Wayne said. "Just stay here and I'll try to find it."

Wayne left the kitchen, leaving the three women in silence as they tried to process the new information. Rollins had a child sixteen years ago, with an underaged girl. She knew he liked them a bit younger, considering he married her but, what?! She didn't know what to think. Either he didn't know about Olivia at all, or he could've known about Olivia and abandoned Rowan, keeping a secret of him already having a child from her.

"Here." Wayne said, returning with a not so gently used photo. The edges were worn and it was cracked at some parts, but as Ali was passed the photo, she could clearly make out the faces of the people.

The man in the photo was most definitely her husband. Being married to him for almost two years allowed her to know her husband's face like the back of her hand, and the man in the photo was 100% Rollins. Just sixteen years younger. His face was more radiant than now, and he had stubble covering his face. His hair was its normal length, brown and a bit unruly since it didn't have any hair gel in it. He was wearing a light blue polo, accompanied by Aviator sunglasses on his face. He looked happy, his smile not the least bit artificial.

The woman next to him, who Ali assumed was Rowan, was gorgeous. She looked like Emily, but of course she would look like Emily. Olivia even looked like Emily. Now Ali knew why her husband would often ask of Emily, wonder how she was doing or what she was up to. Emily reminded him of Rowan, he even said one night that Emily reminded him of someone he used to know.

But something didn't fit, Rollins had to have made the connection between Rowan and Emily, both of them had the same last name and looked shockingly the same as well! Had he been lying to her?

Ali continued tO stare at the Rowan in the photo. She didn't look like how she did at the prison. Her hair was long and wavy, pulled back into a long ponytail that flowed down her shoulder. She was leaning into Rollins, who had his arm around her as she nestled into his shoulder.

"Can I keep this photo?" Ali asked, looking up at Wayne. "Rollins comes back from Vancouver after the holidays, and I want to see what he says about all of this."

"Do you think he'll agree to sign Olivia off to us?" Pam asked, tentatively.

"I'm sure he will." Ali nodded. "And I'll take good care of this photo. It's getting late, and I don't want to keep you guys awake. Thank you so much for having me."

"Are you sure you want to go home Ali? You can just stay here tonight." Emily said.

"No really, it's fine. I have a lot to think about, this is kind of a lot to take in. I basically have a step-daughter I had no idea about, and she's my student." Ali said, sighing as she rubbed her temple. "Can you do me a favor? Please for now, don't tell Olivia who her father is. It would really save me from the consequences that's going to come with this, at least until I figure this out with him."

"Yeah...yeah we won't say anything yet." Wayne said.

"Thank you." Ali said, smiling. "Like I said, I really should get going but, thank you so much again. And Merry Christmas, I'm sure I'll see you guys soon."

* * *

It was the evening of Christmas Day, and Alison hadn't left her house. She wasn't feeling very Christmassy anymore, especially after finding out her husband had a sixteen-year-old daughter. Instead of opening presents and having Christmas dinner, Alison had been thinking about what had happened in the last twenty-four hours. She stared at the photo that she took for Olivia, and went over how she was going to confront Rollins about it when he got home after New Year's.

She had gotten a few texts from Emily throughout the day, saying Merry Christmas, checking up on her, and making sure that she was sure didn't want to come over for Christmas dinner with her family. Ali was touched by Emily seeming to care so much, but she really didn't want to see Olivia until after Christmas break.

 **emily: but i still have your present to give you :(**

 **ali: haha thank you, you can give it to me another time. i have yours too but right now i'm still trying to process everything that's going on**

 **emily: of course. no worries, text me if you need anything. i'm going to sleep. night!**

Ali was drifting off to sleep as well, her hand absentmindedly stroking Pepe's fur as she tried to keep her eyes open to watch reruns of Modern Family. Just as sleep was about to overcome her, the front door of her house opened and slammed loudly.

Pepe jumped up, barking as he got off the couch and walked towards the front door. That was weird, Ali swore she locked it. She lifted her head from the couch and rose to her feet, walking cautiously behind Pepe as he entered the front hallway.

"Ali!" a deep voice called out.

It was Rollins, that was weird. He wasn't supposed to be home until after New Year's, why was he home so soon?

"Hi?" Alison asked questionably, stepping out from behind the wall she was standing behind. "What are you doing home so soon?"

"I decided to surprise the love of my life." Rollins smiled as he dropped his suitcase. "I knew you were all alone back in Rosewood, and I decided to come back and see you. Who needs my parents anyway."

Alison smiled weakly, as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Listen, we need-"

"And how's Pepe doing?" he asked, bending down to rub Pepe's ears. Pepe stepped closer and rubbed up against Rollins legs.

Alison brought a hand up and pinched her nose, already becoming frustrated with her husband in less than a minute of his arrival.

"Elliot, I really think we need to talk." Alison said, firmly.

Rollins stopped making cooing noises at Pepe, and straightened up. "What's going on?" he frowned.

"A little over sixteen years ago, did you know a Rowan Fields?" Ali asked.

Rollins frowned and shook his head, "Name doesn't ring a bell. Wait Fields, isn't that Emily's last name? How's she doing by the way-"

"Just please stay focused." Ali said, quieting her husband instantly. "Look, so while you were gone, Emily's family and I came to the discovery that you had sexual relations with Emily's aunt, and ended up getting her pregnant."

"What?! Alison that's absurd, I don't even know who the fuck Rowan Fields is! How am I supposed to have a child with her?" Rollins asked, his voice raising.

"I don't know Elliot, you tell me! Your name is written on her daughter's birth certificate." Alison said, pulling out the old photo. "And you're the one in this photo with Rowan."

Rollins stepped forward and hastily grabbed the photo from Ali's hand, "Let me see that." he grumbled, his face pink with anger.

He examined the photo for a few seconds, frowning as he looked up at Ali. "This is Jamie Pierce, not Rowan Fields." Rollins said.

"No, that's Rowan Fields." Alison said. "In that photo she was sixteen years old, and she had your daughter at seventeen."

"What? No, that's Jamie. She was nineteen and going to Penn State, majoring in accounting." Rollins said, pointing hastily at Rowan in the photo.

Alison rubbed her temples, "What do you know about this Jamie Pierce then? What's the history behind this relationship?"

Rollins sighed, "Please don't get mad."

"Honey, I was seven years old sixteen years ago, I'm not going to hold that against you." Alison said. "Now explain."

"We met through a friend, Gordon actually." Rollins chuckled slightly. "She was talking to a group of girls at this small get together in someone's dorm room at my college, University of Philadelphia. We just hit it off then, went on a date or two, it was pretty unconventional. Then she disappeared, dropped off the grid a month later, never saw her again."

"She probably dropped off the grid because she was pregnant with your daughter!" Alison said.

"And so what if she was? How was I supposed to know she was pregnant, huh? This is not my fault Alison!" Rollins yelled angrily. "Can we just fucking chill out about this?"

Alison took a deep breath, "Fine if you want to chill about this. Emily's parents are going to adopt Olivia, which is your daughter's name by the way. They need the birth father to sign off that you will let them adopt her."

"And what if I don't want to sign the papers?" Rollins asked.

"You're going to sign the papers or Olivia will be your only child because your parts down there won't be able to have any." Alison hissed. "Emily's parents are the sweetest people I have ever met in my life, and they love Olivia as much as they love Emily. This is good for Olivia, and I don't think she would be willing to live with her teacher and her father that she hadn't had any contact with in sixteen years."

"Can I at least meet her?" Rollins asked. "She lives in Rosewood doesn't she?"

"She does." Alison said. "And you can only meet her, if she's willing to meet you. I'll have to talk to Emily's parents."

"Alison I want to be a part of my daughter's life, but if she doesn't want to than I won't." Rollins said, calmly. "Jamie-, I mean Rowan, will always hold a special place in my heart."

"Whatever." Alison sighed. "Just sign the adoption papers when they're presented to you."

* * *

"Woah seriously?" Hanna asked, flipping through the booklet of color choices. "Talk about major plot twist."

Hanna and Emily were currently doing their bride and maid of honor requirements of picking out the color scheme of Hanna and Caleb's wedding. Caleb and Hanna had already picked out their location, settling with a destination wedding in New York City. He had left all the other wedding planning to Hanna, since he wasn't into picking out what color napkins that the guest would be using. Hanna didn't seem to mind, since that meant Caleb couldn't object to any of the decisions that she would make.

"Alison always liked to have an eventful life." Hanna remarked, turning another page. "Now she's practically living a soap opera...do you like this green? Or is it too vibrant for a wedding? Or is green to like, vomit colored."

"I don't know, I kind of feel bad for her. She's had a lot going on lately." Emily said. "And no, I wouldn't go with green. Especially that green, this isn't prom."

"You're right, what was I thinking. God, who knew how much effort it would take to plan a wedding." Hanna sighed, flipping to the blue and purple swatches.

"How did you get Caleb to agree to have your wedding in New York?" Emily asked. "He seems more of a laid back, small wedding kind of guy."

"If Caleb had his way with everything, it would be a three minute wedding in jeans and a t-shirt, washed down with a bottle of beer." Hanna said.

"Wow, someone's been watching Mamma Mia I see." Emily laughed. "And he's okay with all of this?"

"For the most part. I think he's so okay with all of it, mainly due to the fact he doesn't have to worry about it." Hanna said. "I wonder how much worse this would be if I didn't have a wedding planner."

"Hey, this purple looks really nice. It's not too in your face, but will be a nice compliment to everything." Emily said, pointing to the purple gray color swatch.

Hanna eyed it over, "I like that." she smiled. "That color bow tie on Caleb with a white vest and black tux? Of course, the only thing he's actually deciding is what his tux will look like...but, I'm sure it won't take much convincing."

"Is that all we have to do for today?" Emily asked. "Or did you want to look at the bride's maid's dresses while I'm still here."

"Oh! Yes! I brought a whole catalogue of those! I'm thinking now that we have a light purple for the theme, it would be nice if my bride's maid's were in like a darker plum color. I think there are a few really nice looking ones in this catalogue, I looked for like five minutes before my gynecologist appointment this morning." Hanna said, pulling it out of her purse.

"Wow, yikes Hanna. Thanks for that information." Emily said, raising her eyebrows slightly as Hanna began flipping through the catalogue.

"I had my eye on this one style, mostly because I definitely could see you in it and you would look really hot." Hanna said, stopping on a page. "What do you think?"

Emily looked at the bride's maid's dress. It was a dark plum color, had strapless sleeves and the dress reached the floor. The woman who was modeling it looked extremely happy, laughing at absolutely nothing.

"Wow, this one is really nice Han." Emily said, examining the dress. "Do you think the other girls will like it?"

"Even if they don't, they still have to wear it." Hanna shrugged. "I just asked you what you thought because you're my maid of honor."

"Well, I think we're going to look really good in this." Emily said. "When will you have us go get fit for it?"

"Maybe in a few weeks. Caleb and I have to go and do cake tasting in a few days, and even though I would love nothing more than to just eat cake all day, I really wish I was doing other things." Hanna sighed, closing the catalogue. "Did you get the formal invitation yet? I know I sent them out like yesterday but, maybe you got it already since you live in Rosewood?"

"I'm sure I'll get it in the next few days." Emily said.

"I invited Alison by the way...and guest, you know in case she didn't want to bring her husband or something." Hanna shrugged.

"Why wouldn't she?" Emily asked.

"I don't know, with that Olivia thing with her husband...I don't know, it's not any of my business." Hanna said, standing up from the table they were sitting at in The Brew.

"I don't think Alison is going to hold it against him if he genuinely didn't know. What he had with my aunt happened sixteen years ago, we were like six or seven." Emily said, rising from the table as Hanna shoved the booklet of color swatches in her large purse.

"I know, I know." Hanna said, exasperated as she shook her head. "It was wrong of me to make assumptions."

* * *

Rollins tapped his thumbs nervously on the table of the restaurant that he and Alison were in. The booth they were in could sit four, and both Alison and her husband were sitting on one side. It was the spot that they had come to the agreement to meet at so that Olivia and Rollins could finally meet for the first time.

"Do you think she'll like me?" he asked, nervously as he looked at Alison. "What if she doesn't like me."

"You'll be fine…just be you." Alison said, not knowing what else to say. This encounter could honestly go many ways. "She should be here any minute."

Her husband continued to tap his fingers on the table, his leg bouncing as he glanced around the restaurant. Suddenly, the door to the restaurant opened and Olivia entered, followed by Emily behind. Olivia was wearing a gray peacoat, and her hair had a few stray snowflakes stuck to it. Olivia looked around nervously, before catching Alison's eye. Rollins looked up the same time she did.

"That's your daughter." Alison said, smiling at Olivia.

"I know." Rollins said. "She looks exactly like her mother."

Olivia and Emily walked over, Emily more confidently than Olivia. Olivia stayed back a bit as she walked over, looking at her feet as they approached.

"Hi!" Emily said, smiling as she slid into the booth. "Sorry we're late."

Rollins stood up from the booth, seemingly mesmerized by Olivia. "Hi." he said, looking down at his daughter. "I'm Elliot, or Rollins if you want. That's what all my friends call me."

"I'm Olivia, or Olivia if you want." Olivia said, looking up at him and smiling slightly.

"Can...Can I hug you? Or is that too weird?" Rollins asked.

"Yeah." she smiled.

For the awkward moment that they shared moments before, their hug was anything but awkward. Rollins hugged Olivia rightly, resting his chin on her shoulder. From the angle that Alison was sitting, she could see tears in her husband's eyes. As they broke from the hug, he sniffled and wiped his eyes before sitting down next to Alison.

"So," Emily spoke up, smiling. "Do you guys know what's good here?"

"I heard the clam chowder is really good, though I'm going to get my usual of a bacon cheeseburger and onion rings." Rollins said, glancing at his menu.

"Bacon is actually the best food on Earth." Olivia commented as she examined the menu. "If I get the same but with curly fries, can I have some of your onion rings? You can have some of my fries."

"Sounds like a plan, I can already see that there's some of me in you." Rollins laughed.

"I think I'm going to get the clam chowder if it's really good here." Alison said, ignoring her husband's weird comment.

"Yeah, clam chowder sounds good." Emily said. "I haven't had it in years."

"So, Olivia, what have you been doing in the past sixteen years?" Rollins asked after they had ordered.

"I don't know, nothing too eventful." she shrugged. "I'm a junior now...and I've been...going to school I guess."

"Yeah I hear my wife's your English teacher." Rollins said, leaning forward slightly. "Have you always been going to Rosewood?"

"No...my mom and I have moved around a lot...I think this is my, twelfth school?" Olivia asked. Emily and Ali exchanged looks before looking back at Olivia. "I don't know, it's kind of hard to adjust to all the schools."

"Really?" Rollins asked. "I didn't realize you had to move around. Do you play any sports or not really?"

"No, sports aren't really for me...I tried soccer when I was like five but I didn't last very long. Plus my mom said it was too expensive for me to play." Olivia shrugged, sipping her Coke.

"Isn't it only like $30 for a five-year-old to play soccer?" Rollins frowned, sipping his beer.

"Yup." Olivia said, shortly.

Alison kicked her husband's foot without being noticed by Olivia and shook her head. "Don't." she mouthed to him.

"Oh...I'm sorry. Do you like where you're at now though?" he asked. "I hear Emily's parents are the most wonderful people in the world."

"Yeah, it's nice not having to worry about some of the things I used to worry about." Olivia smiled. "Emily's like a sister to me, she lets me borrow her clothes a lot."

"Which is why you are one of the best dressed at Rosewood High might I add." Emily spoke up, knocking into Olivia slightly.

Alison laughed, watching Emily joke around with Olivia. It was nice to see after so much both girls had gone through, they were still able to be happy.

When their food arrived, Emily let Alison take the rest of her oyster crackers since Alison liked a lot of oyster crackers in her clam chowder. Rollins and Olivia were engulfed in a conversation about a TV show called, Mr. Robot. Alison didn't even know her husband watched any sort of television other than his beloved Philadelphia Eagles.

"So, how's your mom doing?" Rollins asked. "I haven't heard anything about her since I last saw her."

Alison froze, she had specifically told her husband not to mention anything about Olivia's mom unless Olivia brought it up.

"Um...well she's in prison right now…" Olivia started, taking a bite of her fries. "She got caught with possessing heroin, which to be honest was going to happen eventually. This guy she was dating, I always knew he would end up snitching on her."

"Oh...is that why you're staying with Emily's parents?" Rollins asked. "And why you're being adopted by them?"

"Yeah…" Olivia said, looking at her plate. "Can we not talk about my mom? I know you haven't seen her in forever and all, but it's not an easy subject."

"Oh, yeah of course." Rollins said. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be, if you want. I can give you her prison address and you can send her a letter or something." Olivia said.

* * *

"I think their dinner went well." Emily said, as they walked down the main street of Rosewood on New Year's Eve. There was ice on the sidewalk, and Emily would slip occasionally. Due to the chance of Emily slipping, Alison wrapped her arm around her waist so that Emily could hold on for support. Emily had her arm around Alison's shoulder as they walked slowly down the street.

It was nearing midnight, and the few bars and restaurants that were open had people packed inside and watching the TV to see the countdown clock and ball drop from New York City. Occasionally, people would pass them on the street, paying no attention to either of the girls as they walked.

"I think so too, Rollins wouldn't stop talking about it." Alison said. "God, my ears are freezing."

"Here." Emily said, taking off her hat. "Put this on, it covers your ears."

"Are you sure you want me to wear this?" Alison asked, taking the warm hat in her free hand.

"Yeah of course. I don't want you to freeze." Emily said, watching as Alison stopped and put on the hat.

They passed a local bar that, which was emitting a large amount of chatter and laughter.

"Welcome to the countdown to New Year's 2018 here at Times Square in Manhattan!" the announcer said. "We are less than one minute away from a new year!"

"Another year without someone to kiss at midnight." Emily sighed. "Maybe I could run in there and get lucky with someone in that bar."

The countdown of the people inside the bar began. _Twenty, nineteen, eighteen, seventeen..._

Alison frowned and looked at Emily, "Um, no way that's happening. You're not leaving me, I have no one to kiss either!"

 _Thirteen, twelve, eleven..._

"Hmm, well how are we going to fix that?" Emily asked.

 _Eight, seven, six, five..._

"I don't know wise ass, you tell me." Alison said, rolling her eyes.

 _Four, three…_

"How about I show you." Emily smiled, grabbing Alison's waist.

 _Two, one…_

Happy New Year!

Alison didn't hear the last few seconds. Emily had pulled her flush against her, a hand wrapped around her waist and another on her neck. She tilted Alison's chin up slightly and in one solid movement, attached their lips.

Alison smiled, trying her best not to separate their lips. She kissed Emily eagerly and sweetly back, forgetting the awkward yet heartwarming dinner that they went to the night before.

As the cheering died down, Emily separated their lips, but kept the tip of her nose pressed to her cheek. Alison tried her best to process what just happened, but Emily had already backed up and was pulling Alison down the street.

"Happy New Year bitch!" Emily said playfully to Alison, and Alison was still processing what had just happened.

When she finally had recovered enough, they continued to walk down main street and back towards Alison's house.

 _BOOM!_

"What the fuck!" Emily screamed, slipping on ice as she tried to push off of Alison. She fell to the ground, swearing as her damaged knee hit the ice.

Alison looked around, what the fuck? Did she just get shot? Alison looked around, when another loud boom went off.

 _BOOM!_

This one was louder than the previous one, causing Emily to whimper and cover her ears.

"Make it stop!" she yelled, practically crying.

Alison looked up into the sky, the dark night sky was filling with light. Fireworks, they were setting off fireworks.

 _BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!_

"No!" Emily sobbed. "What the fuck is going on?"

"Emily!" Alison said, falling to her knees next to her emotionally distraught friend. She was having flashbacks from the fireworks. "Emily, it's okay it's just fireworks."

She reached out and placed a hand on Emily's back, only to find Emily was shaking rather violently either from being cold or because she was scared. Or both.

Emily slapped Alison's hand away, practically shoving her backwards into the sidewalk.

"Don't fucking touch me!" Emily said, curling up into almost a ball as she pressed her hands to her ears. "Just make the gunshots stop!"

 _BOOM! BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!_

"Emily, they aren't gunshots!" Alison said, wiping the tears from her eyes. She was helpless in helping Emily. "They're fireworks, there's nothing bad happening."

Alison painfully waited the few minutes of the firework show, trying her best to do something for Emily. Passersbys stopped, asking Alison with concern if Emily needed an ambulance.

"She just got back from Afghanistan," Alison said. "I think she's having flashbacks."

As Emily continued to cry with her head in the snow, Alison pulled out her phone and called the only person that she could think of to help her. She waited as the phone rang, hoping that they would pick up.

"Hello?" the voice asked.

"Cece, something's going on with Emily." Alison said, crying as she tried to talk.

"What? Alison, what is going on?" Cece asked, her voice instantly becoming panicked. "Take a deep breath, what's going on?"

"We were walking down Main Street and right after midnight and fireworks started going off. I think she's having like a PTSD reaction or something. She won't let me touch her and she keeps crying hysterically." Alison said, wiping her nose. "Can you please come and help me?"

"Of course, I'm getting my coat on right now. Where are you guys?" Cece asked.

"We're near that bar on Main Street." Alison said. "You know the one with the movie theater next door."

"Okay, I'm on my way. Hang in there." Cece said, hanging up.

When Cece arrived, the fireworks had ended. Emily was still laying face down in the snow, taking deep shaky breaths as she cried softly.

Cece pulled up to the side of the road in her black car, getting out as soon as the car came to a complete stop.

"Hey, hey. I'm here. How is she?" Cece asked, running around her car to Ali.

"I don't know what to do Cece!" Alison said, gesturing to Cece.

"You're lucky I have experience with this PTSD type of thing." Cece sighed, walking over to Emily. "Emily, it's Cece. Come on, I'm taking you to my house. You're on main street in Rosewood Pennsylvania right now. There were fireworks that went off, you're safe."

Emily didn't react any differently, and Ali was surprised Cece wasn't freaking out as she was.

"Emily, honey, can I touch you? Is it okay if I touch you to help you in the car? I'm going to help you into my car and I'm going to take you to my house so that you get warm." Cece said.

"Y-yes." Emily muttered.

Cece gripped Emily's arms, and pulled her into a sitting position. "Come on babe, let's get you home." Cece grunted.

It took some effort from both Cece and Alison, but Emily was able to be pulled up and placed in the back seat of Cece's car. She instantly laid down and continued to cry softly.

"Get in the car Ali." Cece said, firmly. She moved to the driver's side door of the car.

Alison got in the car, wiping at her eyes as Cece began driving back to her house. Cece continuously repeated the same few phrases to Emily, telling her where she was and what she was going. Alison looked back at Emily, her face wet and ride from the snow. There were tears streaming down her face, Alison had never seen anything so helpless.

It took a miracle getting Emily inside Cece's house. Alison helped remove Emily's winter coat, which took some coaxing since Emily seemed adamant at not moving. Cece placed a blanket on Emily and laid her on her couch, wiping the melted snow off her face as Emily's sobs subsided.

"Hey hun," Cece said, as Emily sat up. "Can I get you some water, something to eat?"

"No." Emily said looking down at her hands. "No, I'm fine."

Alison sat tentatively down next to her, watching as Emily glanced in her direction.

"Alison's here to help you too." Cece said, sitting down in a chair near the couch. "Do you want her to give you a hug?"

Emily nodded slightly, and rubbed at her eyes.

"Ali, hugging them will help sometimes. Just give her a long tight hug, but don't hurt her or anything." Cece whispered.

Alison moved closer, and opened her arms slowly. Emily fell into Alison's arms, who immediately wrapped around her. She hugged Emily tightly, afraid that something would happen if she let her go.

"It's okay." she whispered, her lips in Emily's hair. "Nothing's going to happen."

"I know." Emily croaked, as Alison felt her hot breath on her neck.

"Goals." Cece whispered, and Alison shot her eyes up to Cece upon hearing it.

* * *

"Thanks for helping me tonight guys. I'm really sorry about that. I don't know what happened." Emily sighed, staring at her hands.

"Don't apologize Emily, it is not your fault at all." Cece said, squeezing Emily's hand. "Do you want to talk about what happened?"

"Talk about it?" Emily asked. "Like what?"

"Talk about what happened in your flashback." Cece said. "You don't have to if you don't want to of course."

"No, I think I should. Really, I was back in Afghanistan right before I got hurt and broke my leg." Emily explained. "I should probably tell you since I haven't really explained it to anyone else."

"What happened Emily?" Cece asked.

The sun was hot, so hot. Emily felt like she was being cooked alive underneath the hot gear on her body. Even the M4 rifle in her hand was starting to feel heavy as she hid behind the building, waiting for one of the men or women to start shouting for her to come and aid them. Her breathing was erratic, the thumping of her heart in her ears was intensified with her helmet pressed against her head. Her hand that was on the trigger released itself so that she could wipe the dirt away from her face and off of her glasses. She could hear the whizzing of bullets occasionally fly by her as she tried to control her breathing, waiting for something.

"Medic! I need a medic up here on level three!" a female soldier called directly above her.

 _Emily looked up as dust fell onto her face from above the clay building. Rising from her spot in the dirt, Emily made a break for the entrance of the building and towards the stairs that would lead her to the third level. Holding her gun out to check to see if any of the enemy soldiers were lurking around, she made her way up the stairs. Dust was falling from the ceiling of the building, as a loud explosion went off that shook the building erratically. Emily could hear the tension of the building, as she made it to the third floor._

 _"We need a medic right here." the soldier who had called before shouted, her hand red as she continued to press it to the other soldier's lower abdomen. The wounded soldier groaned and winced in pain as the soldier removed her hand to let Emily take over. The other two soldiers who were firing out of the open windows right beside them, kept going as if one of their men wasn't bleeding out right next to them._

 _There was another loud explosion and the building they were in began to shake violently again, causing more dust to fall. One of the soldiers who was firing stopped and turned around, yelling over the gunfire._

 _"One more of those explosions and this building is going to come down right over us!" he yelled. "We need to get out of here!"_

 _"We can't pull Foltz out, we need to wait!" the soldier with the bloody hands shouted as Emily began to treat the wounded soldier._

 _"Hey, Foltz? Can you hear me?" Emily yelled, bending over her fellow soldier. Foltz was a good friend of hers. He was twenty-five years old, and had a beautiful wife and infant son. He had everything going for him, she wasn't going to let this bullet kill him._

 _Foltz groaned in response and gritted his teeth as Emily examined the bleeding wound from his hip. The wound was right below where his bulletproof vest ended, near his right hipbone. Emily struggled to unbuckle his belt and unbutton his combat pants so that she could slide them down his legs to access the wound. Emily pressed down on the open wound with one hand as she opened a pouch to retrieve gauze with her free hand, shaking as she grabbed the tape to tape down the gauze with._

 _She continued to hold pressure on his wound until the bleeding had stopped and his wound was beginning to clot, before beginning to wrap layers of gauze around the area. Just as she was about to tape down the gauze, there was another loud explosion and the building never stopped shaking._

 _There was a cracking sound that sounded too close and all at once, Emily wasn't kneeling on the ground, she was falling. She hit the floor below them, hard on her back as she realized that the building was coming down on top of them. Something came down and fell on Emily's left leg, which was sticking out slightly, effectively crushing it under a pile of debris. She yelled out in pain as the collapsed building began to settle around them, gunshots still ringing out and in the distance she could hear soldiers yelling that a building had collapsed._

 _Whenever Emily tried to move her crushed leg, a shot of pain ran up her body causing her to try to bite back a yelp. A small ray of sunlight was hitting her face, allowing her to see out slightly._

 _"Help!" Emily yelled. "Can anyone here me?"_

 _No one answered, but she knew that other soldiers knew that people were trapped under the building from the sound of their shouts._

 _She waited four hours after the warfare ended for them to start moving the rubble and start pulling the survivors out. When they got to Emily, she took the longest to retrieve. Dust covered her face, her mouth matching the dirt on the ground. Utterly dry. They had to lift the bricks that were covering Emily's left leg, before dragging her out of the building and to the medical tent that was set up a ways away._

 _"Wait, wait. Foltz is in there along with Matthews, Peterson, and Darcy. Did you get them?" Emily coughed._

 _The soldier looking at her didn't respond, instead he continued to move about the tent and grab medical supplies._

 _"Hey! Answer me goddammit!" Emily yelled._

 _"Soldier Foltz and Soldier Peterson perished when the building collapsed. Darcy and Matthews are recovering, broken ribs and legs it looks like. I'm so sorry."_

When Emily finished her story, both Cece and Ali were staring at her with their mouth slightly open.

"Emily...I had no idea." Ali said.

"It's fine Ali. I haven't usually said anything to anyone, not even my therapist." Emily shrugged.

"Well, I think we're both very grateful that you decided to share with us and that you trust us with this information." Cece said. "Do you want me to give you both a ride home? I bet Emily could use some decent sleep."

* * *

On January 1st, Alison was cleaning out their closet of any old or worn clothes. She had already taken a few things out of her side of the closet, and was now on her husband's. He had a few shirts with holes that she would probably have to fix, but other than that he didn't have much.

He did have a few shoeboxes though, that were becoming old and dusty as the days wore on. Alison frowned and picked up one of the shoe boxes, was there even anything inside of them? In the first shoebox, there was nothing but a few old baseball cards from Rollins's youth. Keepsakes and mementos, the type of things that you wouldn't throw away.

The second box had one letter in it. One single letter, that was slightly yellow from age. On the envelope was written, "Elliot Rollins" in fancy script. Curious, Alison opened the envelope and pulled out the letter inside.

 _November 14th, 2001_

 _Elliot,_

 _I know that you haven't heard from me in about a year now, and that this letter is very unexpected…_

 _If you haven't checked who sent this letter already, it's me, Jamie. But, I need to make a confession, that's not my actual name. My name is Rowan Fields, and I'm not going to Penn State for accounting either. When we met, I was sixteen years old. I go to a high school in Philadelphia, or used to. I dropped out a few months ago._

 _I know that this is a lot right now, but the reason was that I dropped out because I was pregnant with your baby. Yes, I know it's yours, she looks so much like you. Plus, I wasn't with any other men around that time, even though you probably think I was because of some of the things I said._

 _Your daughter is named Olivia Danielle Fields. Her middle name is Danielle after your mother, I thought you would like that. She's a beautiful little girl, and I'm so grateful that my parents are helping me with her. My brother, Wayne on the other hand isn't as enthused. I think he's more confused than anything, on why I would do something like this. He has a daughter named Emily, I think she's about eight now, and I thought he would understand better because he has a daughter of his own._

 _He may be disappointed in me now, but I know he would do anything for me and our daughter if it came down to it. He's that kind of brother, and I love him with all of my heart._

 _I'm not writing this letter to ask you for money, or for anything really. I just wanted to tell you about the amazing child that you have, I'm sure you'll agree. (I included a photo.) She has been the best thing to happen to me since I met you, and I hope you find it in your heart to forgive me. I know I lied to you, a lot. About everything. In reality, you barely know me._

 _I think Olivia and I are going to have an amazing life together, just her and I. I'm going to make sure that nothing bad happens to her, and that nothing bad happens to me. She's my last happiness right now, and I'm so glad that I have her._

 _Thank you...I love you,_

 _Rowan Fields_

* * *

 _ **always review**_


	9. Chapter 9

Alison sat in the same chair Olivia did, staring through the glass that divided her from the inmate that was going to be brought in. To say she was on edge was a bit of an understatement, her fingers were tapping the table in front of her and she looked around frequently.

A few minutes later, the door opened and a familiar woman entered with an officer holding onto her arm. Her hands were handcuffed in the front, and she was escorted to the chair in front of Alison and the glass divider. Her eyebrows furrowed as she sat down, and her handcuffs were removed.

Her expression remained just as confused as she reached for the phone so that she could talk to Alison. Alison reached for her phone as well, putting it to her ear.

"I didn't expect that you would be my visitor," Rowan said, resting her arm on the table. "You're, Olivia's English teacher, right?"

"Yes. And I know, you probably expected to see Olivia or Emily or someone else that wasn't me," Alison said, laughing slightly.

Rowan's face remained straight, "Why are you here? If it's something about what Olivia did at school you'll have to take that up with my brother and his wife. They're her caregivers."

"No, it's not anything Olivia did," Alison said.

"Than what is it about?" Rowan asked. "You're friends with Emily right...are you guys dating?"

"No," Alison smiled. "This may be a bit of a surprise, but I'm married to your daughter's father."

Rowan's eyebrows raised, her face let through no emotion. Alison gulped slightly, glad that there was a barrier between them.

"Elliot never mentioned a wife." she said simply.

"So you've been in contact with him?" Alison asked eagerly. The whole reason she was visiting Rowan was so she could get some answers on what exactly her husband was up to, and what else he wasn't telling her.

"Yes of course I have. He's sent me letters, he still loves me I know it," Rowan said. "You can't change that. You're too young for him anyway, you're the same age as Emily."

"Excuse me, I'm not here to be judged on my marriage life," Alison snapped, her voice turning icy. "I'm here to get answers about what my husband is doing, and why he failed to mention that he knew about your daughter."

"His business involving our daughter is his and my business. This does not involve you," Rowan said, her eyes narrowing as she leaned forward in her seat. Her voice was just as firm and biting as Alison's.

"It does involve me! I'm his wife, married couples are supposed to share those things with each other." Alison said.

"Really? You've never kept anything from Elliot? Nothing?" Rowan asked.

Alison gulped, her mind flashing to a week ago with Emily. Was Rowan onto her? She couldn't have known, she'd been in prison the entire time.

"Nothing," Alison lied, her voice faltering slightly. Of course it did, she was out of practice.

"Elliot may be married to you, but he's in love with me. We have a child together, and you can't change what he and I shared. You can't replicate it," Rowan spat. "When I get out of this dump in three years, he's going to leave you for me. This is helping to make me a better person for him, so that he and I can be together and be there for our daughter. I'm sober for him."

"Rowan, I don't think you understand this," Alison said. "He ignored the fact he had a daughter entirely until we looked at her birth certificate. He knew Emily's last name was Fields and that she looked very similar to both you and your daughter. You and Rollins may have been together in the past, but that part of his life is over. He ignored your daughter's existence and-"

"Liar!" Rowan yelled. "You fucking liar! You manipulative bitch!"

Alison jumped slightly, leaning back in her spot as Rowan slammed a fist on the barrier between them.

"You want Olivia and Elliot for yourself! You're tricking his brain, you're tricking Olivia's brain! You want them for yourself! You want to take them from me!" she yelled, as tears began rolling down her cheeks. "I won't have it! I won't have some young, blonde trophy wife taking my child and my love from me!"

The door behind Rowan opened, and the same police officer who brought Rowan in entered. Alison put the phone back in its spot, watching as the officer approached Rowan. Rowan was banging on the glass barrier, screaming at Alison but she couldn't hear her. The officer pulled on her arms, pulling her away from the wall.

There was a small tap on Alison's shoulder. She turned around to see another officer standing over her. He was older, and he looked extremely tired.

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave, miss," he said, his voice gruff.

Alison grabbed her purse, and rose from her seat. "I don't know what happened. I was just trying to talk to her and she freaked out."

"This isn't her first time doing that," he explained. "A lot has been going on lately. It may be best that you don't return, at least not for a while."

"I understand," Alison said. "Thank you, officer."

"No problem," he smiled.

* * *

As Alison left the prison and walked to her car, she thought over what just happened. She didn't get the answers that she needed, instead she was left with more questions.

Rollins was in the living room and watching the football game when Alison got home. She shut the door behind her, and quickly rubbed Pepe's ears. She followed the sound of the cheering and the loud announcer as she walked down the hallway to the living room of their house.

Rollins was sitting on the couch, slouching down with only his head and neck being propped up by the back of the couch. He was holding a beer, and there were two other empty ones on the coffee table in front of him.

Alison reached next to him, grabbing the remote as he looked up at her. She hit the power button, and the TV immediately went off.

"Hey! What the fuck Ali, I was watching that!" he said, jumping up from his spot on the couch.

"You have some explaining to do before you go back to watching that stupid game!" Alison hissed, her anger from before returning.

"Okay, relax," Rollins said. "What's going on?"

"You knew about Olivia this whole time!" Alison said, reaching in her purse for the letter. "She sent you a letter explaining what happened! You lied to me, _again_."

Rollins sighed, and looked at his feet. "I know." he said, simply.

"You know?" Alison asked. "That's all you're going to say for yourself?"

"I knew about Olivia, I knew from the beginning. But Alison, I was twenty-two when I got the letter. I wasn't ready to become a father!" Rollins said.

"Oh so twenty-two is too young for you to have kids but pressuring me about having kids at twenty-three is fine," Alison said.

"Stop doing that! Stop bringing up that past stuff," Rollins said. "Look, I didn't want to become a father and I knew you would be mad at me if I told you I have a daughter which turned out to be your friend's cousin."

"I would've been mad, but I wouldn't have been as mad as finding out through this!" Alison said. "You've gotten out of child support for the sixteen years of Olivia's life, and now you think that you can walk into her life?"

"Because I'm older now! She's my daughter, and I didn't want to deal with her then. I know, it was awful of me, I get it. But now, it's different. What if she came and lived with us? We could be a real family!" Rollins suggested.

"No way! No way am I letting you take her from Emily's family. They have done so much more for you than you have. They've brought her into their home, gave her all of their love, and a chance at having a good life. As for you, you knew about her and chose to do nothing," Alison said. "You are signing those adoption papers when they are presented to you, or you're going to be facing some serious consequences from me."

Rollins sighed, "I just want a family."

"Is this supposed to try to make me feel guilty for you?" Alison asked. "What about the other letters? You must've talked to her."

"Yes! I was talking to her okay! But I stopped once we got engaged I swear!" Rollins said, his face contorting into a clear form of distress. "I love you Alison! I love you so much! You're the only woman in my life, I swear."

Alison sighed, "You can't lie to me about these things," she said.

"I won't!" Rollins said. "I'll sign the papers, I'll do anything you ask. Please, just forgive me."

"Is there anything else you want to tell me right now, while I'm listening?" Alison asked.

"No!" Rollins said, shaking his head. "That's it. There's nothing else."

Alison wanted to be mad at him, and she still was. She was mad at him for lying to her, but she couldn't be that mad since she was lying too. What she was mad at was that Rollins had robbed Olivia of certain parts of her life. Sure he didn't have to be in her life, but he could've helped Rowan out in terms of childcare. It was the least he could do for her. And the fact he wanted to take Olivia from a secure family situation?

"Well, you can have the chance to think about what you did," Alison said. "I'm going to Cece's."

"Wait, Ali. Don't be like that," Rollins said, as Ali tossed the remote to him. "Just stay, don't make this a big deal."

"You're lucky that me staying at Cece's house for the night is the only thing that I'm doing," Alison said.

* * *

"Ali?" Cece asked, as she opened the door. "I didn't expect to see you here tonight."

"Hey Cece, I know it's last minute. Do you mind if I stay here tonight?" Alison asked, shivering as light snow fell on her head and shoulders. "It's kind of important."

"Of course!" Cece said, stepping to the side. "Emily's inside too. We can have a girls night!"

"Emily's here?" Alison asked.

"Yeah, she came over to catch up and hang out. She's not staying over though, but I bet we could convince her to if you want," Cece said, as Ali walked in the house.

The door of Cece's house entered right into her living room. Emily was sitting on the larger couch facing the TV, her head turned around to see Alison entering.

"Hey," Emily said, casually. Scream Queens was on the TV screen, Cece must've been trying to get Emily into it.

Alison kicked off her shoes by Cece's door, and smiled slightly at Emily. Being in the presence of both her sister and Emily was already cooling off her nerves. Emily's smile made her feel as if everything was going to be okay.

"Is it cold out there?" Emily asked, as Ali sat down next to her.

"Yeah. I'm freezing," Ali said, crossing her arms and bringing her legs to her chest to keep warm.

"Here. I'd offer you the whole blanket, but I'm cold too. Wanna share?" Emily asked, opening part of the deep purple blanket to Ali.

Ali smiled and scootched closer to Emily, as Emily placed the blanket over her.

"I'm making tea, you guys want tea?" Cece asked, as Ali turned her attention to the TV in front of her. They were on the first episode of the first season. Emily still had three seasons to go.

"Yeah I'll have tea," Ali responded. "Do you have chamomille?"

"Yeah, of course. It's my favorite," Cece said. "What about you Emily? Want any?"

"I'm good for now. Thanks though," Emily responded, as Cece left the living room and entered her kitchen.

"Hey, what's going on?" Emily whispered, placing a comforting hand on Alison's knee. Her thumb rubbed Ali's knee as she turned her head to look at her.

"I'll explain when Cece comes back," Alison responded. "Stay over tonight."

"Here?" Emily asked, her eyebrows raising as she continued to look intensely into Ali's eyes.

"Yeah," Alison said. "Please?"

"Okay, the water for the tea is on," Cece said, walking back into the living room. Ali slowly moved back from Emily, allowing more room between them. "So, what's going on with you Ali?"

"So, you know how I told you about the thing between Rollins and Olivia?" Alison asked.

"Did something else happen?" Emily asked, sitting up slightly. "Is everything okay?"

"I was cleaning out our closet a few days ago, to get rid of a few things that were old and we didn't wear. I found this old shoe box and inside was a letter from Olivia's mom. I read it, and Rollins knew about Olivia this whole time," Alison explained.

"He did?" Cece asked, raising her eyebrows. "That asshole. I knew I didn't like him."

"Wait, did you confront him about it? Or does he not know that you know?" Emily asked, her brows furrowing.

"He knows. I confronted him and he explained to me what happened," Alison said. "He said that he knew, but he wasn't ready to be a father. And now that he's older, he wants to be a father."

"Wait, he's not thinking about not signing the adoption papers, right?" Emily asked.

"Of course not, I made sure he would sign anything regarding Olivia's adoption," Alison said, comfortingly. "I'll make sure that Rollins won't stand in the way of her adoption."

"So, did you just leave him at your house?" Cece asked.

"Yeah, he was drinking beer and watching the football game. It's not like he'll miss me," Alison sighed. "He loves his alcohol more."

"I know this isn't any of my business, but have you considered that maybe he has a drinking problem?" Cece asked.

"I mean, it's crossed my mind. He normally doesn't drink that much, I think he's just had a rough month," Alison sighed. "What am I going to do with him?"

"Um, divorce him?" Cece asked. "It's what I would do."

Emily chuckled slightly, her hand returning to Ali's knee. She squeezed her knee in reassurance, and leaned into Ali's side. Cece got up from the other couch when the teapot started making a loud whistling noise.

It was nice to be able to sit with Emily and Cece, and drink tea. Emily's hand rubbed Ali's thigh under the blanket as Cece returned with Ali's tea and turned on the next episode of Scream Queens. The smell of the tea, the smell of Emily next to her which she had gotten used to, and the feelings of Emily's fingers as they trailed her thigh. There was nothing better at the moment.

Cece didn't seem to notice anything, as she told them various stories of her life. Cece lived a very eventful life, and Ali often joked that she should have her own reality TV show. It wasn't that Cece was mean or dramatic like any of the reality TV stars, it was just that eventful things always had a way of finding Cece. For instance, Cece witnessed a proposal turned bad since the girl ended up declining, and she witnessed a bar fight that ended up in one of the guys losing four of his teeth.

When Emily was talking, Ali slipped her hand under the blanket and intertwined her fingers with the hand Emily was using to rub Ali's thigh. Emily held onto her fingers with a firm grip, as Ali brushed her thumb over the back of Emily's hand. Thanks to blankets, it slipped past Cece's radar, and Alison was able to find comfort in Emily just by holding her hand.

As time passed, and Alison sipped her tea, the exhaustion from the day was beginning to settle on her. Having a warm body like Emily at her side, and her stomach warm from drinking tea, Alison was soon resting her head on Emily's shoulder. Her body shifted and pressed itself against Emily.

She felt Emily's hand slid out of her own, and almost opened her mouth to protest, until she felt the same hand slide behind her back to wrap around her.

"Looks like someone's tired," Ali could hear Cece almost smirk.

"I think she had a rough day," Emily said, as Alison took a deep breath.

"She said she was going to stay the night, do you want me to drive you home or are you thinking of staying too?" Cece asked, her voice lowering to a whisper.

"Um, I think I'm going to stay here tonight if that's okay with you," Emily said, and Ali knew the only reason she was agreeing was because she told her to.

"Alright, well there's a guest bedroom so one of you can sleep in there. And there's this couch. Seems like Ali picked the couch." Cece said, as Emily began to move away from Ali.

"Yup, the couch is for me. My couch. Couch couch couch. Emily you can sleep in the guest bedroom, I'm not leaving this couch," Ali said, laying down in the spot Emily rose from.

"What the fuck?" Cece asked. "I'll grab you both some of my clothes to wear to bed, do you guys want anything specific? Shorts, fuzzy pants?"

"Anything's fine," Ali heard Emily say, and the sound of uneven footsteps as Emily walked away from the couch.

* * *

There was a soft thumping in Emily's ears. Her heartbeat, she hadn't taken her meds again. _Shit_ , she always took them. The pain in her leg wasn't as bad as when she first crushed it, but it still wasn't the most pleasant feeling. She could feel the pain meds wearing off slightly, and a tingling sensation in her leg. If she did end up falling asleep, her dreams definitely wouldn't be filled with the greatest of dreams. The sleep medication did help, but sometimes the dreams couldn't be prevented. Without the medication, she didn't know what her dreams would be like.

Not wanting to have nightmares, Emily tried to keep herself awake. Cece's guest bedroom was simple, the walls were a pale pink, and there was a photo of two young twin girls in red raincoats on the wall. Emily found it a bit unnerving, just by how symmetrical the twins looked, but everything was unnerving to her lately. Alison was out on the couch, probably sleeping soundly. She probably wasn't having problems sleeping, and the slight feeling in the back of Emily's head wanted to go out into the living room and have Alison wrap her arms around her in comfort.

Alison had that weird capability. She was able to comfort Emily just by her touch, even a smile, or small choice of words. Emily could do the same to Alison, it was how their relationship worked. They could understand each other, and sometimes it felt that Emily knew Alison a lot longer than a month and a half. Not that they didn't know each other before, but they were never that close.

It was close to two A.M when Emily's eyes began to sting of tiredness. She closed them, putting aside the fact she was going to have probable nightmares.

"Em?"

Emily's eyes shot open, and she sucked in a cool breath of air as she panicked. She pushed off the bed and sat up straight, looking around the room for whoever called her name.

"I-I'm sorry. Did I wake you?"

It was Alison, standing in the door frame of the room. Emily breathed a sigh of relief. It was Alison, just Alison.

"No. No, I was awake anyway. You just...scared me," Emily said, her muscles relaxing from their tense state as her head fell back onto the pillow.

"I'm sorry, I should've realized," Alison said, softly. "Do you mind if I stay in here?"

"To sleep?" Emily asked, her head cloudy with sleep. "Is the couch uncomfortable?"

Alison didn't respond, and Emily felt a dip in the bed. The room was pitch black, but Emily could make out the silhouette of Alison's figure with the aid of the moonlight. Her blonde hair was unkempt, blonde strands fell in different directions. Alison didn't lay down, and Emily stared up at her in confusion.

"Is something wrong?" Emily asked, sitting back up to Alison's height.

"No...nothing's wrong," Alison said, softly. Her hand reached out tentatively, and took Emily's again. "I just want to thank you for everything."

"I didn't do anything," Emily said, shaking her head. "It should be me thanking you, honestly."

Emily could hear Alison smile, "Before we argue about this, let's just agree that we both have helped each other out," Alison said.

"Ali...about what happened with-," Emily began, but was cut off by Ali.

Ali had leaned forward, kissing Emily and successfully shutting her up. Emily's hand immediately flew up to Alison's face, cupping her cheek with such gentleness that Ali was almost melting underneath her fingers. It was as if Alison was fine China. Tingles erupted on Ali's skin, underneath wherever Emily touched her. They held the kiss, and Ali relished in the passion they shared in the kiss.

When their lips broke, both were slightly panting. The tip of Ali's nose rested on Emily's, both not daring to move. They were breathing the same air, their lips ghosting each other ever so delicately, waiting for the other to make the next move.

"Ali," Emily breathed. "I-I thought you said-,"

"I know what I said," Ali said, leaning forward slightly to kiss Emily. Emily titled her head back, avoiding her lips successfully. "I need this. Please."

Ali knew Emily wouldn't be able to say no, not to her. And she didn't, she didn't say no. She stayed where she was, continuing to pant slightly as the room feel silent. Ali took this as the go ahead, and leaned to kiss Emily again. Emily allowed their lips to connect, allowing Ali to take control. Her hand that was on Ali's cheek, moved to Alison's hips. She gripped her sides and tugged, helping to lift Ali onto her lap. Alison wrapped her legs around Emily's waist, pushing Emily's cascade of dark hair out of the way so that she could kiss her neck.

Emily let out a strained gasp, finding the bottom of Alison's shirt so that she could hastily pull it over her head. There was no hesitation in Emily's actions anymore, unlike the first time they found themselves in this situation.

Once Ali's shirt was off, it was Emily's turn to attack any bare skin on Alison's body. She went for her chest, peppering kisses and biting gently on any skin not covered by her bra. Ali gasped, and bit her lip, trying not to let anything slip from her mouth. She failed shortly after when Emily's hands began to roam her chest, her touches varied from gentle to forceful.

"Your sister's right down the hall," Emily whispered, and Ali could hear the smirk on her face just by her tone. "Don't want her to catch us."

Alison groaned, and ground her hips into Emily's lap, chasing some sort of friction.

"Just shut up and fuck me already," Alison whispered, impatient with Emily's teasing.

Emily chuckled, "Of course, Queen Ali." she said, teasingly.

She reached behind Ali, and leaned forward to kiss her again. As they kissed, Ali felt Emily's hands fumble with the clasp of her bra. A few seconds later she was successfully able to remove the light pink constricting material, and pulled it off her. She then wrapped an arm around Ali's middle, and lifted Ali. She was able to rotate them, while making sure her braced leg didn't hit anything or bend improperly, and slammed Alison on her back on the bed.

Emily was smiling, which was in between a smirk and a genuine smile. Ali looked up at her, and placed both her hands on Emily's shoulders. Ali breathed heavily, watching as Emily got up slightly and pulled her own shirt over her head. This wasn't a new thing, Ali had already seen it once before, but Emily's body was something she couldn't get used to. She was all kinds of perfection, her stomach flat from rigorous army training and combat. For Ali, she didn't work out as much as Emily, and sometimes she grew self conscious. Emily practically worshipped Ali's body when they got intimate, making any feeling of self consciousness go away, which was something her husband was never able to do. It was a dark tan color, still fairly tan though not as tan as when she first came back from Afghanistan. She wasn't superhuman strong, and it wasn't that evident just by looking at her, but Ali had witnessed her strength on numerous occasions.

Emily didn't seem to notice Ali staring as she lowered herself back on top of her, outstretching her broken leg as she used both her hands to part Ali's legs. She pulled down Ali's sweatpants, discarding them next to where her shirt was. Her hands travelled down Ali's smooth legs, and back up again until they rested on her upper thighs. She looked Ali up and down, and just as the self conscious feeling began to wash over her, Emily spoke up.

"Never have I ever seen someone so gorgeous," Emily smiled, kissing Ali softly.

Ali smiled, and bit her lip. Five years ago, Ali oozed confidence and no sign of imperfection. She made sure to cover that up to the students at Rosewood. But here was Emily, able to make Alison feel she wasn't good enough to have someone like her. She saw Ali for who she was, even back in high school. Maybe if she didn't marry Rollins almost impulsively, things would be different. If she knew that one day she could have the opportunity to be with Emily Fields as much more than just exchanging polite conversation during class and at parties, she probably wouldn't have married him.

But now, she couldn't just divorce her husband. Marriage is much more complicated than dating, there was a process. And, like it or not, her husband needed her. He was dealing with things, she was dealing with things, and she was beginning to notice the amount of what he drank increasing.

But right now, this moment she was sharing with Emily, it was about them. She knew she felt something for Emily, that much she did know. It was different, a fire burning inside her. Was it lust? The fact she was able to fuck her high school crush? Or was it something else? She didn't know, she was too confused at the moment because Emily was kissing her way down her stomach and once she reached below her bellybutton, Ali knew she wouldn't be able to think about anything clearly.

* * *

Emily jerked awake, startled and confused as she sat up. She was cold, probably because the bed covers weren't even covering the upper half of her body. Next to her, Ali was curled up in most of the covers and buried into her right side. Emily had her arm locked around her, and had the girl pulled flush against her.

Ali's bright blue eyes were open, staring at Emily as the confusion and panic vanished from Emily. The brightness from outside lit up Ali's eyes, making them look much like a clear blue sky. The innocence in her stare comforted Emily slightly.

"Bad dream?" she asked.

Emily took a deep breath, and settled back in bed, pulling some of the covers away from Ali and onto herself.

"Yeah," Emily gulped. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Ali asked.

"No, not really. It's always the same," Emily said, running a hand through her hair. "Falling."

"It hasn't gotten any better?" Ali asked, reaching out to rub Emily's stomach comfortingly with her thumb. "Even with the medication?"

"I mean, the medication helps, but it can't prevent them completely sometimes," Emily sighed. "Plus I didn't take my meds last night. It was probably a contributing factor."

Ali gave her a sad smile, "Well, I'm pretty sure Cece's up. I can hear her."

"Did she come in here?" Emily asked, watching Ali sit up and look for her shirt.

"Nope, she's pretty good with the whole privacy thing. She probably figured I ended up in here anyway," Ali said, pulled her shirt over her head.

When both girls were completely dressed, they exited the bedroom and into the living room of Cece's house. Cece was singing slightly, and unloading her dishwasher.

"Hey babes, I see you guys are awake," Cece said, barely glancing at them as she put away the glasses. "I see you didn't end up staying on the couch the whole night."

"Uh, no," Ali said. "It was pretty uncomfortable and Emily was nice enough to let me sleep with her."

"Huh, I didn't realize it was uncomfortable. I've slept on it a few times when I was too lazy and tired to get up from watching TV," Cece frowned, as she closed the glass cabinet.

"What's for breakfast?" Emily asked, changing the subject.

"Well, I didn't expect you guys would be staying over, so the best I have is cereal, coffee, and yogurt. If you want, we can go out for breakfast," Cece said, closing her dishwasher.

"Cereal's fine," Ali said. "I'm good with that."

"If you have Cheerios, I'm happy," Emily smiled.

* * *

"You've never gone ice-skating?" Alison gasped. "You're not even living! Rosewood literally did that thing at the pond every year, and you never went?"

"I guess I was never into falling on my butt in front of the whole town," Emily smiled, sheepishly.

"Well, the pond is frozen and they're having the ice-skating event the whole month of January. You guys should go," Cece suggested, sipping her coffee.

"What about you Cece?" Emily asked.

"Oh, count me out," Cece said. "I've already bruised my tailbone twice and I don't need to do it again."

"See!" Emily said, looking at Alison.

"Emily, Cece is prone to accidents though. You know this," Ali said, as Emily's phone began to ring.

Emily frowned as she glanced at caller ID.

"I told my parents where I was, why is my dad calling?" she asked, picking up her phone and sliding her thumb across the screen to answer.

Alison and Cece exchanged looks briefly, and continued to eat their breakfast.

"So, how's my Pepe doing?" Cece asked, as Emily talked to her dad.

"He's...good-ish," Ali admitted. "Honestly Cece, I don't know how much longer he's got in him."

"Well my little Pepe is a trooper," Cece smiled, sadly. "He's been a good dog."

"He has," Ali said. "It's just, he's a big part of my life, and my first dog."

"Oh my God," Emily said, opening her mouth in shock. "She, she? She did?"

"What's wrong?" Ali asked.

Emily didn't respond, and Ali saw tears begin to form in her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be right home," Emily said.

Emily hung up, and Ali immediately repeated her question.

"Emily, what's wrong?" she asked.

Emily looked up, her face still in shock. "Olivia's mom committed suicide last night."

Ali's eyes widened, as well as Cece's. "Wait, that's the mom of Rollins daughter right?" Cece asked.

"Yeah," Emily said. "And last night during the nightly check, they found her dead in the shower stall."

"They know for sure she committed suicide?" Ali asked.

"I-I don't know!" Emily almost yelled. "Cece, can you please just take me home now?"

* * *

Emily had spent the whole day with her grieving family. Olivia was distraught, and hadn't stopped crying since they found out the news. It was a lot for Emily to handle, and she didn't want any part of arranging her aunt's funeral. So, in order to escape the sadness, she called Ali.

Of course, Ali gladly picked her up and took her back to her house. Ali was just as sad as Emily, which was surprising since Ali didn't know Rowan that well. But, her husband did have a daughter with her, and Olivia was her student, maybe that had something to do with it.

Speaking of her husband, he hadn't been home all day. The house was empty besides Ali, Pepe, and Emily. They spent most of their time together in silence up in Ali's bedroom. Ali had intertwined their fingers, and was stroking her thumb on the back of Emily's hand for comfort. Reruns of Parks & Rec was on, but neither of them were paying much attention. Alison seemed to have something else on her mind, and Emily wasn't in the mood to laugh.

The front door opened as Emily's eyes were beginning to droop. It slammed forcefully, causing Emily's eyes to shoot open in panic. She gripped Ali's hand tightly, and looked around.

"Alison!" a man yelled, and loud footsteps echoed throughout the house.

"In here!" Alison called back, and Emily listened as the footsteps climbed the stairs and approached.

Rollins entered, his face slightly red and his hair very unkept. It was always styled, but now it was disheveled and he looked extremely tired. Emily had never seen him anything less than perfect.

"Where've you been all day?" Alison asked. "You don't work on-"

"I was at the prison," Rollins said. "The one Rowan used to be at."

"Oh…" Alison said, her eyes flickering to Emily. "Why?"

"Just to sort a few things out," Rollins said. "And do you know what I found out?"

"What?" Alison asked.

"I found out that you were her last visitor," Rollins said. "In fact, a police officer there stopped me and said, 'Oh, you're Dr. Rollins right? Your wife, Alison, was in here yesterday or maybe two days ago.' Care to explain why you visited her?"

"You visited my aunt?" Emily asked, confused. Alison never mentioned to visit Rowan on her own. Why did she go?

"She didn't tell you Emily?" Rollins asked, his face redder with anger. "I bet she didn't tell you about the fact that she and Rowan got into a fight during that time too, and Alison had to be escorted out."

"Is this true?" Emily asked.

"It was NOT a fight," Alison seethed, backing herself up. "She got mad at me for something I said, but we did not fight."

"You went because of the letter she sent me didn't you?" Rollins asked. "You wanted answers from her. Don't lie to me Ali, I know you."

"Okay, I went!" Ali admitted. "I went to see what she had to say about your relationship. She said you had been sending each other letters. I went there because I knew you would lie about it to me if I asked because you wanted to save yourself. She was convinced that you two were still in love, and that when she got out you were going to leave her for me. So yes, I said that she was wrong and she got mad. I didn't think she would do something like that though! And I had no idea she was going to kill herself!"

Rollins curled his lips, which he only did when he got extremely angry. Ali had only seen it once, and she didn't want to see it again.

"This is your fault," he said, his voice shaking. "You're the reason she's dead, you fucking bitch!"

"Hey!" Emily said, rising. "You need to chill the fuck out. You guys can talk about this without blowing a fucking blood vessel!"

Rollins jaw visibly tightened, and Emily gulped as he stared down at her. Behind her, she could hear small sobs from Ali on the bed. Rollins eyes flickered from Emily to Ali, and his jaw loosened slightly.

"I'm sorry!" Ali sobbed. "I didn't know!"

Emily turned around to Ali curling herself beneath the sheets as she cried. Tears rolled down her cheeks, and she avoided their eyes. She continued to cry, and Emily turned back to Rollins. He was staring at her, his expression much softer.

"I shouldn't have said that," he said, his voice quieter. He turned his attention to Emily, "Stay with her, until she falls asleep."

"Why me?" Emily asked. "Where are you going?"

"I think it's best that she and I spend a few nights apart," he sighed. "I'll see you at the funeral. Tell Olivia if she needs anything, to call me. I hope she's doing okay."

"I'll tell her," Emily said. "Goodnight."

"And tell Ali I'm sorry, when she calms down," he said, before exiting their bedroom.

Emily waited for the front door to close again, before making her way towards Ali. She was still crying, and Emily felt helpless. She reached out and rubbed Ali's back, trying to soothe her without words since she didn't have any.

"It's all my fault Em," Ali sniffled. "You must hate me."

"I don't hate you," Emily sighed. "I'm right here."

* * *

 **reviews are the best :) it gives me your input and helps me write the next chapter**


	10. Chapter 10

The white church of Rosewood, which gave off a happy glow, seemed unfitting due to the occasion. People dressed in black clothing, suits and dresses, entered the church wrapped in warm coats. Alison was sitting in her husband's car, staring at the church. She didn't want to go inside, he didn't seem ready to go in either.

She was wearing a black dress, ending above her knees. It was one she had owned for a few years, lost and forgotten in her closet. Black was never really her color. Rollins was sitting next to her, twisting his wedding band on his finger. He was wearing an all black suit, even the collared shirt her wore was black. The days had gone by, and he seemed to look older by about ten years. His eyes had dark bags under them, and he seemed out of it. Both of them were out of it.

"Is it an open casket?" Rollins asked, his voice hoarse from a cold and barely above a whisper.

"No, it's closed," Alison responded, staring at the open doorway of the church.

"Okay, I guess that's a little better," Rollins sighed, tapping the steering wheel of his car. "We should probably go in. The mass starts in five minutes."

He opened the car, and fixed his button up coat as he got out of the warm car. He stretched slightly, and smiled and shook hands with a man who walked by. Alison watched him. Within seconds he was able to go from tired and sad to happy and cheerful just to greet someone he knew. When the man and his wife walked away, he turned to look at Ali, who was still in the passenger seat.

"You coming?" he asked, bending down to look at her.

"Yeah...yeah I'm coming," Alison said, pushing away the guilt in her stomach as she got out of the black Audi.

The air was cold, and a small wind blew through the town that stung her eyes and made them water. She walked around the side of the car, and towards the church. Rollins fell into sink next to her, and placed his hand on her lower back as if to help guide her.

Things were a bit strained between them, under the circumstances it was a bit expected. As they walked closer, sad organ music could be heard from within the church. Alison stopped abruptly in the street, looking inside the church. She could see people moving about, as well as a large photo of Rowan. It looked like a senior yearbook photo, but Rowan didn't even make it to her senior year before she dropped out.

She was sitting in a grassy field, with her back against a large oak tree. On her lap was a baby, who looked about a year old. Alison assumed it was Olivia. Olivia was smiling widely with her mouth open and looking adoringly up at her mother. Rowan was looking down at her, smiling just as wide. She looked so young, and was probably eighteen in the photo if Olivia was only a year old.

"What's wrong?" Rollins asked, stopping and turning around to look at Alison.

"Nothing...nothing," Ali said, shaking her head as she walked to keep up with Rollins. "Let's go."

They entered the warm church, the smell of incense was present throughout the church. The church was relatively full, but that was no surprise. Rowan may not have been well known around Rosewood, but the Fields' family was. Many people came to show their support. Ali and her husband walked down the pews of people, spotting many students from Rosewood High. They were most likely there to support Olivia. Alison spotted one of Olivia's best friends, who smiled slightly at Ali upon seeing her.

Emily was talking to the same older couple that Rollins said hi to on the way in, her eyes flickering to see Alison and Rollins as they approached. When she was finished talking, she side stepped towards them.

"Hey, I'm so glad you guys could make it," Emily said, reaching out to hug Alison.

Alison hugged her tightly, wrapping her arms snuggly around her body. After a few moments, Emily released her. To Alison's surprise, Emily then turned to hug her husband. Rollins hugged her tightly as well, his eyes closed as he almost seemed to grip Emily with all he had.

"Of course," Rollins said, upon releasing Emily from their hug. "Where's Olivia?"

"Oh, she should be with my great grandmother," Emily said, turning around slightly. "In the second pew from the front."

Rollins excused himself, and began maneuvering his way towards Olivia. Emily turned back to Alison, who was watching Rollins pursue his daughter. Alison admired Emily's dress. It was black, with one shoulder strap that flowed down her body. The dress took away from the large brace on her left leg.

"How are you?" Alison asked, not knowing what else to say.

"Um, I'm good," Emily sighed. "Could be better but good. Are you two coming to the after party at our house after the burial?"

"I think so," Alison said. "I'm sure that-"

"Hey Em," a voice cut in, causing Ali's voice to fade out. Alison turned to see Hanna and her fiance Caleb coming up from behind her. Hanna was wearing a black dress, and it was definitely eye drawing. Not in a bad way, in fact, Alison wished she had a dress similar to Hanna's. Caleb still had a bit of whiskers on his face, but his hair was styled back a bit with some water. He was wearing a black collar shirt, with a white tie.

"Hanna," Emily smiled and let out a sigh of relief. She hugged Hanna, longer than both Ali and Rollin's hugs combined. Alison watched, her jaw tightening slightly. She left Hanna and Emily behind in search of Rollins, feeling awkward the longer she stood there.

When she found Rollins, he was talking to Emily's dad. Alison froze, her dad didn't look very happy with Rollins. His jaw was tight and his arms were crossed, but he kept a polite conversation with Rollins.

Alison looked around, seeing that Aria and Spencer had now made their way over to Emily. Spencer glanced over at Alison, and smiled politely. Alison smiled back, but turned around when she felt a hand on her back.

"Why don't we take a seat?" Rollins asked, guiding her towards in empty pew right behind Olivia and Emily's great grandmother.

Olivia was talking with her great grandmother, who had one of her frail hands on Olivia's, patting it slightly as she talked to Olivia. She looked like she held a million stories, and Alison tried not to listen in as she sat down with Rollins.

Emily took her seat in the front row, two in front of Ali. She was sat next to her father, who had his arm comfortingly around her. The whole funeral mass was relatively a blur for Alison. She was trying to ignore the churning feeling in her stomach, still feeling as though she caused all of this.

When Emily's dad went up to the pew to share his stories of Rowan, Rollins cried softly next to her. She hadn't seen him cry since his best friend was diagnosed with cancer. She rubbed her hand on his back, similar to the way Emily's dad rubbed Emily's back. He had his head bent forward, with his head in one of his hands. His sobs were quiet, but they were there, and his hand was getting wet from the tears.

Olivia's time to stand at the podium and share the stories of her mother were worse, even Alison shed a few tears. The guilt was eating her from the inside out, even though she shouldn't be feeling guilty at all. She kept her eyes on the shiny black coffin throughout the service, and only broke free from her trance when it people began exiting.

"Come on," Rollins said, wiping his eyes. "Let's get out of here."

* * *

"Now why is such a beautiful young lady looking so sad? I know it's a funeral, but it looks as if you have something else on your mind."

Alison looked up from staring at her wine glass, to see a very old woman sit down slowly next to her. She needed a cane to walk, and it took her about ten seconds just for her to sit down fully. Alison recognized her as Emily's great grandmother.

"Oh, sorry. I'm not really in it today," Alison said, setting her glass of wine on the coffee table. "There's been a lot going on in my life."

"I figured as much. Tell me, are you a friend of Emily's?" she asked, looking at Alison through thick glasses.

Her great grandmother looked like Emily, but who in her family didn't, her wrinkled skin was just darker. Just looking at her, Alison could tell that when she was younger, she was very beautiful. But that was expected with those damn good Fields' genes. Her hair was a pure white, and tied in a intricate bun. She was wrapped in a sort of shawl, and her manicured fingers were rubbing her cane.

"Uh, yeah. We're friends," Alison responded, smiling politely. "How did you know?"

"I suppose you're expecting me to say some old poetic thing, but really, it's just that you seemed around the same age," she responded, laughing lightly. "I figured you didn't know Rowan, no one really knew Rowan in her last few years."

Alison didn't know how to respond, instead she smiled slightly.

"Did you get a chance to taste the popovers that Emily's mother made? One of my favorite reasons to come here," she said, closing her eyes slowly. "That, and to see my relatives of course."

"Hey! Alison, sorry I've been running around, I didn't really get the chance to talk to you."

Emily walked into the living room that her great grandmother and Alison were sat at.

"Oh, no worries at all!" Alison smiled slightly, her stomach still churning. "You don't have to keep me entertained, Rollins and I just stopped by to pay our respects."

"Perfect," Emily smiled, giving Alison a thumbs up. "Thanks for keeping my great grandma company though!"

"She likes you," Emily's great grandmother chuckled upon Emily exiting the room. "She smiles wider when she sees you."

"Who wouldn't want someone like Emily in their life?" Alison asked, trying to fend off a smile as she watched Emily retreating back into the crowd of people.

* * *

"Alison? What are you doing up here?"

Alison froze, and quickly placed the picture frame back onto Emily's dresser. She turned around, and clasped her hands together in front of her body.

"Sorry, I uh, I needed some air," Alison responded, smiling slightly. "You know from all the people. I hope you don't mind."

"Oh no, not at all!" Emily smiled, closing her bedroom door behind her. "I was actually up here doing the same. No matter how many funerals I go to, I still can't get over the fact we're throwing a party because someone died."

"I get it. I know how it feels," Alison said, smiling slightly. "Look, there's actually something I wanted to talk to you about...if you don't mind."

Emily's smile turned to a small frown, "Yeah, of course. What's going on?"

Emily sat down on her bed, and Alison followed. Alison reached for Emily's hand, and took it in hers before giving it the gentlest of squeezes.

"Look, this is going to sound stupid, but I still feel really bad about what happened...like really, really bad," Alison sighed.

Emily stared at her for a moment, almost frowning as she searched Alison's eyes. Alison chewed her bottom lip nervously.

"Ali, what happened to my Aunt Rowan is not your fault at all," Emily said, firmly yet calmly. "You can't beat yourself up over it. She was in over her head, and had been struggling for a while. You can't blame yourself for what other people do. She's the one that messed up, not you."

"Emily, I was the one that told her that Rollins' ignored Olivia for the majority of life and that he had moved on!" Alison said, her voice rising. "And I'm sorry I didn't tell you I went, and I feel awful that all of this happened I just-"

"You don't need to prove anything Ali, to any of us," Emily said, quieting Alison by stroking her thumb along her hand. "What you told her was the truth, he ignored Olivia and he was married to you. Everything is going to be ok, please just believe that."

Alison, who was looking at their hands in her lap, looked up into Emily's brown eyes. They were so sincere, maybe she should just listen to her. She needed to stop worrying about the entire situation, Emily wasn't even the slightest bit mad at her for what happened.

As if knowing exactly what Ali needed, Emily tugged on Ali's arm and pulled her into a hug. Alison melted into her body, and placed her head in Emily's neck. Emily's perfume always smelt good, a brought a comforting sense of relief as she inhaled. Emily kissed the top of Alison's head, and rubbed her back in soothing patterns as she rested her chin on Ali's head.

"Do you want kids someday, Em?" Alison asked, breaking the silence. People could be heard down below, laughing and chattering, unaware of the two girls who had broken off from the crowd.

Emily sighed, and continued to rub Ali's back. "I'd like to think someday I would have kids of my own. Maybe one or two, hopefully they'd be angels, I really am a sucker for crying kids. I would not be able to reprimand them at all honestly," Emily chuckled.

Alison smiled, "You'd be a great mother, Em. I can already tell," she said. "Even if you can't reprimand them, you can have your wife do that. You could be the sweet mom that puts bandages on their knees and gives them extra dessert."

"I would so be that kind of mom," Emily said, letting out a breathy laugh. "You really think I'd be a good mom?"

"The best," Alison responded.

"I guess I better get going on that baby making then," Emily teased, causing Alison to push Emily off of her.

"Honey you are too young to be having babies," Alison said, as Emily continued to laugh.

"So? I can live my life! Slow dance, get married, have kids, even grow old!" Emily laughed, standing up.

"When was the last time you even slow danced with a girl, Miss Emily Fields?" Alison laughed, as Emily slow danced around the room, holding onto an imaginary person.

"Senior prom," Emily said, pretending to sing a slow dance song. "Five years I guess."

"Oh come on, do you even know how to slow dance?" Alison asked, standing up to stop Emily.

"Of course I know!" Emily scoffed, holding out her hands. "I'll show you."

"Where's the music?" Alison asked, taking Emily's hands.

"We can make our own music!" Emily said, starting to hum softly.

"No! We have music or we don't do this," Alison laughed, steadying Emily who almost lost her footing and fell on top of her.

"Fine! Fine, hang on," Emily said, pushing off Alison.

She walked to the stereo by her dresser, and plugged in her phone. It looked a few years old, there was nothing new or special about it. She watched Emily go into her drawer and pull out her cell phone. Emily fiddled with her phone for a few moments, and Alison watched her go onto Spotify and hit shuffle.

Music filled Emily's room, and Alison instantly recognized the song. She bit her bottom lip, and looked at the floor. This was definitely not the song she should be dancing to with Emily.

" _Didn't they always say we were the lucky ones? I guess that we were once, babe, we were once."_

"Not this song," Alison spoke up, causing Emily to frown.

"Why not?" Emily asked, moving to switch the song.

"It's just…I don't know. Not this song," Alison repeated. How did Emily have this song on her phone?

The song stopped, causing Michael Buble's smooth melodic voice to stop. Emily's hands fumbled with the iPhone dock, and the door to Emily's room opened. Alison turned her head, as her husband's head peeked into the room. He side stepped into the room, smiling slightly in their direction.

"I thought I would find you in here," he said, shrugging into his wool coat. "I'm about to head out, if you want to head out as well."

"Um, yeah...yeah I'm kind of tired," Ali responded, shaking her head. She stood up from the bed, and fixed her dress awkwardly. "I guess we're heading out."

"Right of course," Emily smiled slightly, glancing at Rollins. "I'll show you guys out."

"You have a really nice house Emily, thank you for inviting Alison and I," Rollins smiled, placing his hand on Ali's lower back to direct her out of Emily's room.

* * *

It was close to dinner time, and the essays that Alison was grading were spread out across the dining room table. She was stuck grading a particular essay, whose thesis was weak, but somehow turned made very detailed and valid argument points. She was chewing on the edge of her pink pen, reading over the second paragraph again before deciding to correct it.

Just as her pen was about to hit the paper, the doorbell to their house rang. It was a traditional "ding dong", and rang throughout their large house. Alison looked up from the paper, wondering if she or Rollins had ordered anything. She hoped it wasn't a salesperson, but maybe it was Girl Scout cookies.

"I got it!" she heard Rollins call, followed by the sound of his heavy footsteps. Alison looked back down, and began writing on the paper. "Cite your quotes correctly!" she wrote on the margin.

A few moments later, Rollins entered their dining room. He held onto the doorframe, and used his hand to support his weight. His eyebrows were knit together, revealing age lines on his forehead.

"Hey...there's a police officer here for you. He said he has a few questions to ask you," Rollins said. "He's in the front hall right now, do you want me to bring him in or-?"

"No, I'll come out. Hang on," Alison said, clicking her pen closed. She stood up from the dining room chair, a bit disappointed that she had to abandon grading the papers. She wanted to get them done by the next day, but it seemed that may not be the case if she was going to keep being interrupted.

She followed her husband out of the dining room, and into the front hall of their house. An officer was standing by the front door, his hands on his hips as he looked up at the chandelier of their house. He was middle aged, a bit older looking than Rollins, with his dark curly hair graying on the sides of his head. He was light skinned, and had a well structure jawline that looked like he could cut butter with it. The badge on his uniform read "CALDERONE" in white letters, and Ali recognized him. She had seen him around Rosewood before.

"Officer Calderone," Alison greeted shortly. "Is there something that I can help you with?"

"Uh, please, it's Lorenzo," Lorenzo said, extending his calloused hand. Alison shook his hand cordially, as Rollins went back upstairs to finish his TV show. "I have a few questions involving the suicide of Rowan Fields, it shouldn't take too long."

Alison froze, and her eyes widened. Why were they questioning her? This wasn't her fault, what happened _wasn't her fault_.

"Um, of course," Ali said. "Would you like to come to the living room? It may be a bit more comfortable than here."

"That would be great," Lorenzo said, his blank expression faltering as he smiled slightly. "Lead the way.

"Would you like anything to drink?" Ali asked, trying her best to keep the growing nerves out of her voice.

"Uh yeah, could you get me some water please?" Lorenzo asked. "Sorry I haven't really gotten the chance so sit down today."

"Yeah sure," Ali said. "The living room is right ahead, just head on in through the sliding glass doors. I'll go grab your water and be right in."

"Thanks," he said, barely looking at Ali before entering the living room.

When Alison returned, she found him sitting on their sectional. His notepad was sitting on their coffee table, and he was texting on his phone while he was waiting for Alison to return. Ali held the glass of water firmly in her hand, and took a few deep breaths to calm her nerves.

"Here's your water," Ali said, walking around to sit next to him on the couch.

Lorenzo took the glass of water from her and thanked her politely. He took a long drink, giving Alison a few moments to settle herself on the couch. He sighed after finishing the water, and placed the empty glass on the top of the coffee table.

"Listen, I don't want to waste much of your time, but we're just looking into the death of Rowan Fields. You were the last person to have outside contact with her, so I just wanted to follow up on a few things," Lorenzo said, picking up his notepad.

"Of course," Ali said, crossing her left leg over her right.

"What was your reason to go and see Rowan? You don't seem to have any family connection to her," Lorenzo asked.

"She and my husband had a child together sixteen years ago. Their daughter is actually one of my students, Olivia Fields. I was searching through some stuff a week or so ago, and I found letters that Rowan wrote to my husband. The letters admitted that they had a daughter together, and my husband had been denying it for the period of time Olivia had been alive," Alison explained, pausing as Lorenzo scribbled down notes in the notepad. "Really the only reason I went was to get more information about what my husband was keeping from me."

"And when you went, that escalated into more than just finding out information, correct?" Lorenzo pressed on.

Alison paused, thinking about what she was going to say next. "Yeah, it did unintentionally escalate. I do admit I lost my temper, but if I had any idea on what Rowan would've done, I wouldn't have-"

"I understand, I'm just getting some information. The prison she was in just wanted to do a follow up," Lorenzo said. "Do you think I could get some more water?"

* * *

"They were questioning you?" Emily asked Alison, as Alison snuggled into her side.

The arm that Emily had draped around Ali's body was rubbing small patterns into her hip, being careful not to go any higher or lower. They were sitting in the back of Alison's car, listening to the radio and blasting the heat.

It was a bit unexpected for Emily, since Alison had given no advance warning. She just showed up at her front door, complaining about being stressed from the day's events. Emily went with her of course, how could she say no when Alison looked at her with those eyes?

"Yeah, this cop came to my house and was asking about her," Alison explained, wrapping her arm around Emily's middle. "He smelt funny, kind of like cigarettes and booze."

Emily chuckled, "You think everyone smells funny," Emily said, rubbing Ali's cheek as she looked up at her.

"You're right, I do," Alison smiled. "You smell pretty good though."

"I hope so," Emily said, continuing to rub the area on Ali's cheek bone.

"Do you know what this reminds me of?" Alison asked.

"What?"

"That night at Noel's lake party when we hid out in your car because your ex girlfriend was looking for you," Alison laughed. "What was her name?"

"Paige," Emily chuckled. "I'm surprised you forgot. You two didn't get along."

" _Shit," Emily mumbled, ducking behind Alison slightly._

 _Alison frowned, they had been talking for a few minutes in Noel's backyard. Emily caught eye of someone she was hoping that she would not see that night, but of course she had to show up looking for her. Or did she just show up to be an annoyance?_

 _Alison turned around, and saw someone walking out of Noel's backdoor. She instantly recognized the girl, her anger instantly flared up inside her. Paige had been dating Emily, much to Ali's dismay. She loathed every second of their relationship, mostly due to the fact that she couldn't have Emily for herself at this point._

* * *

" _It's okay, I'll cover you," Alison said, grabbing Emily's hand. "Grab my hand, and follow me ok?"_

" _Okay, I just don't want to deal with any drama tonight," Emily said, reaching out to intertwine her fingers with Ali's._

" _Don't worry, you won't have any of that tonight," Alison said, turning back to glare at Paige, who was looking around Noel's yard. "Not while I'm here."_

 _Ali side stepped a few feet, and pulled Emily with her. She kept Emily shielded behind her, and continued to pull Emily into the large bushes on the side of Noel's yard. Once they were shielded, Alison dropped the red cup she was holding on the ground._

" _Run," she said, laughing slightly as they exited the bushes and made it to the road._

 _Car after car were lined up on the street, all belonging to high school students. Emily held Ali's hand tightly as they ran down the line of cars, as Ali tried to search for her own._

" _Wait, wait, wait," Emily said, pulling Ali to a stop. They both were slightly out of breath, and a good fifty feet from Noel's house. "This is my car."_

" _Are you going to drive home?" Ali asked._

" _I would if I wasn't drunk," Emily sighed. "I really can't go back there. I'll just hide out in my car."_

" _Are you sure?" Ali asked._

" _Yeah, just until this wears off. I'll drive home later," Emily said, waving Alison off._

" _At least let me keep you company," Ali said, as Emily opened the back door of her car._

" _Don't feel the need to. I know you have friends back at that party," Emily said, looking back at Ali._

" _I don't give two shits about them. Now move over!" Ali said, pushing Emily slightly so she could climb into the backseat with Emily._

 _The pair remained like that for most of the night, and ended up falling asleep on top of each other. Emily remembered Alison talked in her sleep, well it was more of a mumble, and she was a big cuddler. She had Emily locked tight in her arms, giving Emily little move to roll around. Emily barely knew Ali, well, not as well as she knew Hanna or Aria or Spencer. It was weird having the popular girl sleep on top of her, mostly because she didn't think Alison noticed her much._

 _Emily woke up before Ali, just as the sun was rising. It must've been 5AM, and Emily was completely disoriented. When she realized who had been sleeping on top of her, her disorientation subsided. Though, she never knew Ali like she knew other people, in that moment she felt, maybe she did know her._

* * *

"You have a very vivid memory, Alison," Emily smiled, looking down at Alison.

"I could sleep with you here just like we did five years ago," Alison smiled. "Do you want to?

"Rollins is going to be looking for you," Emily sighed. "You shouldn't stay out too late."

"But I want to," Alison said, bringing Emily's face down to kiss her lips softly. Their lips remained pressed together, though none of them made any movement. Alison nuzzled her nose on Emily's, and breathed deeply as she kissed her lightly again.

Alison pushed on Emily, gently pushing her back onto the backseat.

"Just you, just me. You don't want that?" Alison asked, as she began to straddle Emily's hips.

How could Emily say no?

* * *

It was a few days later, and Emily had joined Hanna to taste test wedding cakes. Caleb had handed off the cake tasting to Emily, mostly because he joked his taste pallet was nothing close to Hanna's, and his only request was not to have the cake taste like pineapple. Hanna didn't seem to mind, she knew Caleb wasn't picky with cake, other than the fact he hated pineapple flavoring.

"This one's weird, it's like Strawberry Shortcake just shit in my mouth," Hanna grimaced, and pushed the strawberry flavored cake with white buttercream frosting away from her.

Emily wasn't a fan of it herself, being someone who preferred chocolate herself. The cake actually did taste a bit like strawberry lip gloss, like the kind every girl used to have when they were six. Emily frowned herself, and set her fork down.

They had already tried six different cake flavors, and none seemed to stand out to Hanna. She had mentioned she wanted something different, something a bit unique.

"If people taste a unique cake, they're more likely to remember details of our wedding," Hanna said, when she pushed away a simple vanilla flavored cake.

"How told you that?" Emily asked, taking another bite.

"No one, but I bet it's true," Hanna said, trying to find the lady who worked at the cake shop they were at. "We need something, unique."

"So, Em, have you started working on the bachelorette party yet?" Hanna asked, as they waited for a different cake to taste.

"I'm still trying to think of a place we could actually go," Emily chuckled, picking at the cake on the small plate in front of her. "I was thinking of a male stripclub, but then I remembered I'm gay and that wouldn't really be all that fun for me."

Hanna snorted, and covered her mouth as she laughed. "I think that's about the funniest thing I've heard all day. I actually can't believe you considered it."

"I can't either," Emily sighed, as a pale green cake was set down in front of them, with ivory colored icing. "I'm not going to tell you where it is, it's a surprise for a reason Hanna. You're the bride after all."

"You know how I hate surprises!" Hanna whined, picking up a clean fork.

"Who likes surprises though?" Emily asked, taking a bite of the cake.

Her tastebuds erupted at the tangy flavor that entered her mouth. It was a bit zesty, and a very subtle sourness. Emily's eyes widened at the contrast of the sweetness in the ivory colored frosting.

"Oh. My. God," Hanna said, looking at Emily. "Is it possible to have an orgasm from cake?

"You're disgusting," Emily laughed, pushing Hanna slightly. "I'm guessing you like it?"

"I love it! This is the kind of cake I've been looking for!" Hanna said, taking another bite. "As much as I love just sitting around and eating cake, I wish we were shown this one first!"

"So that's a yes to the cake?" Emily asked. "Are we done here?"

"Excuse me, miss," Hanna said, ignoring Emily's comment. "We were just wondering what flavor cake this was, I think we've found the match."

"That's key lime pie dear," the older woman said. "If you think you've found the cake you like, I can bring over a forum and we can finish designing your cake and pick the date you want it done by."

"Excellent," Hanna smiled.

Emily's phone began vibrating in her pocket, and she ignored it by pressing the mute button on the side of her phone. She continued to talk to Hanna, until her phone began vibrating again. She frowned, and muted her phone once more.

A few seconds later, Hanna's phone began going off. A hit song played as her ringtone, and Hanna looked down at her phone to see who it was.

"It's Spencer, she's probably calling about the dress fitting," Hanna said, answering the phone. "Hey Spenc,"

Hanna's facial expression changed from a small smile, to a concerned look within a few moments.

"She's in the hospital now?" Hanna asked, frowning. "No, yeah, she's right here."

Hanna quickly held out her phone to Emily, almost throwing it at her so that Emily could talk to Spencer.

"Hey Spencer, what's up?" Emily asked, frowning as she waited for the news. She hoped nothing had happened to her, or Aria.

"Hey Em, just wanted to let you know that Alison's in the hospital," Spencer said. "I just got a call, she hit the back of her head on something and split her head open and blacked out. I'm not sure what happened, but she needed a bunch of stitches. I don't know if you wanted to come down here, her husband was with her when it happened but it seems he's walked off at the moment. You may want to come down here though, I'm sure she would really appreciate it."

"Wait really?" Emily asked, her stomach tying in knots. "I'm in the middle of cake testing with Hanna, we'll be able in about half an hour."

"I'll give you a ride there. Don't worry, we'll go check up on her," Hanna said.

"If that's alright? It's really not that big of a deal I can-"

"Emily, your friend needs you. It's totally fine. You would do the same for me," Hanna smiled.

"I just hope she's okay."

* * *

 **take a few moments to review, it means a lot :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**follow my twitter: emisonislifeok for updates on affair and my new emison/pll superhero fanfic that's coming out soon!**

* * *

Alison felt herself regaining consciousness, and a dull pain in the back of her head. She frowned slightly, as she kept her eyes closed. The dull pain in the back of her head seemed to have a pulse, she could hear her heartbeat in her ears. Whenever she heard the thump of her heartbeat, she could hear a beep coming from a machine.

Her eyes fluttered open, and light flooded her vision. It was blurry, and it took her a few seconds to realize where she was. She blinked a few times, and looked around the room. She was lying in a hospital bed, with a heartbeat monitor on her finger. It was dark outside, but the lights were on overhead. The next thing she noticed, was warmth and a slight tightness on her hand.

She looked down at her right hand, only to see someone else's hand holding onto it. It was Emily's hand, and Emily was fast asleep, sitting on a chair next to her hospital bed. Her head was resting on the edge of Ali's bed, but her grip remained tight on Alison's hand.

"Emily," Alison said, softly nudging her. She was sleeping so peacefully, Alison felt bad for waking her up.

"Mmm, what?" Emily mumbled, her soft expression quickly turned into a frown. "Five more minutes."

"Emily, it's Ali," Alison said, smiling at Emily's groggy voice. "I just wanted to tell you that I was awake."

She reached for Emily's cheek with her free hand, and stroked it gently. Emily's eyes fluttered open, her expression still in a frown. Her deep brown eyes searched the room, before locking with Alison's.

Alison's smile grew wider as she watched Emily lift her head off the hospital bed. Emily's frown soon disappeared and was replaced with a concerning smile.

"Hey," Emily mumbled, as Alison stroked the back of Emily's hand with her thumb. "How are you feeling?"

"My head just hurts," Alison sighed.

"What even happened?" Emily asked. "How did you split your head open like that?"

Alison paused, she knew the answer to the question. Emily noticed her pause, as Alison searched for an answer. Emily's eyebrows raised expectantly, and Alison looked at their intertwined hands.

"I was taking down some stuff, you know in my classroom. I slipped on the stool and fell off and smacked my head on the edge of my desk," Alison said, avoiding Emily's eyes.

She looked up moments later, did Emily buy it? If she didn't, she surely wasn't showing it. Her soft chocolate eyes were slightly glossed over, and she was biting her lip. She was worried, worried about her. Her eyebrows were knitted in a slight frown, making her forehead crease ever so slightly.

"Emily, you don't have to worry about me," Alison said, squeezing Emily's hand. "Thank you for everything, you don't have to wait here with me."

Emily sighed, "I know, I know. I'm just...I was just worried. The doctors said you would be fine, but I just wanted to make sure that you were okay myself."

Alison smiled, not knowing what else to say. Instead, she tugged on Emily's hand, pulling it towards her.

"Come here," Alison said, smiling slightly.

Emily inched forward in the chair, pulling it towards where Alison laid. She lifted her broken leg slightly, and came to stop right next to Alison. Alison let go of Emily's hand, and moved her hand to the back of Emily's neck.

"Thank you, for everything," she said. Her angel, here to make sure she was okay. What did she do to deserve this? "I lo-"

She paused, the words catching in her throat. She made a swift recovery, and smiled. "I appreciate it."

"Anytime, really," Emily said, her hand rested itself on Alison's stomach. "I was with Hanna doing some cake tasting, and basically dropped everything just so I could come and make sure you were okay."

Emily laughed slightly, and looked down. Her cheeks turned slightly pink, and she rubbed her forehead. "Sorry that sounds really stupid," she admitted.

"No it's cute," Alison said, squeezing her hand again. "I really do appreciate this Emily. If you weren't here, I would've woken up alone."

Emily looked up, her smile dropping slightly. Alison stared into the deep brown eyes of the girl sitting across from her, comforting her, making her feel better. The light was dim enough that Emily's eyes were only dark pools, but Alison knew that in the light it was a whole different story. Emily's eyes were magical, far different than her husband's, Spencer's, anyone's really.

Emily's brown eyes flashed downward, and before Alison knew it, Emily leaned forward and kissed Alison. Alison's heart fluttered. It was soft, slow, gentle, and full of comfort. Alison forgot about the dull throbbing in the back of her head as she enjoyed the moment. There was nothing that Emily couldn't make Alison feel better about it seemed, and Alison was grateful for that. She would've gone insane without Emily sooner or later.

Emily pulled back, but kept the close distance between she and Alison. Alison smiled wide, and kissed Emily again. She could feel Emily smiling on her lips too, and she pulled back fully after Alison released Emily's bottom lip.

Emily leaned back in her chair, and picked a book off the ground. Alison's eyes tried to catch a title that was hard to make out from the angle she was sitting.

"What are you reading?" Alison asked, nodding at the book as Emily folded a corner of the page so was on.

"Oh, it's just one of the books Spencer got me for my birthday. I carry a book in my purse everywhere. It's called, Milk and Honey. It's not even a book really, just a collection of poetry," Emily shrugged, closing the book.

"You should read me some," Alison said, sitting up on her bed.

"Look at that, the English teacher in your is coming out," Emily smiled, but began flipping through the pages of the book nonetheless.

Right as Emily began to read to Alison, there was a knock on the door and a man entered. Emily's voice faded out, and Alison looked up to see her husband enter the room with a plastic bag that had take out boxes inside. He smiled sheepishly at the two, as he struggled to close the door behind him.

"I see you're awake," he said. "I brought you some fish and chips in case you were hungry."

Alison wasn't really hungry, but it was the thought that counted she guessed. He was probably trying to start making amends for what he had done a few hours before. His hair was a bit disheveled, and the tie around his neck was loose.

"Thanks," Alison said, as she watched her husband place the plastic bag on the table next to her.

Rollins bent down and kissed her forehead firmly, and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Feeling any better?" Rollins asked. "It's almost midnight now."

"Not really, there's just a pain the back of my head," Alison said. "Emily's been here to make sure I was okay."

Rollins stopped, and glanced at Emily. "I was here too, I just stepped out to grab dinner."

"And you didn't offer to get Emily any dinner?" Alison asked, her voice was firm and biting.

"No, Ali it wasn't like that. Really I wasn't hungry when he was going out. He offered," Emily said, putting her book in her purse.

"I did," Rollins nodded. "I think it's time for Emily to go home, did you need a ride Emily?"

"Um yeah, I can call my mom to pick me up if you need-"

"It's fine, it's no bother to drive you. I'm sure your family is asleep anyway," Rollins smiled, dangling his keys. "Come on."

Emily flashed Alison a look, before joining Rollins near the door.

"I'll see you soon?" Emily asked.

"Of course, have a good night. Thank you for everything," Alison smiled.

* * *

The car ride between Emily and Ali's husband was silent. She wasn't really good friends with Rollins at all. It wasn't that Emily thought badly of him either, of course he did do some things to Alison and in general that Emily didn't agree with. But, he was human after all, and at least he was trying to make a difference with his daughter Olivia.

She found out that he liked to listen to indie bands, all of the songs that came on during their car ride was bands that Emily had never heard of with vocalists that had voices very smooth to the sound. He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, out of habit or out of nervousness Emily didn't know.

"So, are you enjoying your time back at Rosewood?" he asked, trying to strike a conversation.

"Um, yeah," Emily nodded. "It's nice to come back and reconnect with everyone. I never really liked it when I was in high school, but it's a bit better now."

Rollins laughed, "I know what you mean, it's not necessarily my ideal place to settle down either. I'm from Canada, if you didn't already know, and a small town in Pennsylvania wasn't where I imagined myself being ten years ago. Hell, the only reason I'm here is because of Alison."

"Yeah, small towns seem to be neither of our things. It's funny that Alison wanted to come back here, she never seemed like the type to want to in high school," Emily remarked, looking out the window at the dark houses.

"Well, she mostly did it because of her older sister CeCe. I knew it would be wrong to say no to that," Rollins shrugged, and began singing along to the band playing over the radio.

It wasn't too long after that Rollins pulled into the driveway of Emily's childhood home. He pulled his red car right behind Emily's father's SUV, and put the car in park.

"How's Olivia doing?" Rollins asked, peering at the dark house ahead of them.

"She's, um, she's good," Emily said. "She's still a little bit cut up over what happened with her mom, it's only been a few weeks."

"Yeah," Rollins said, sadly. "It's sad for me too. Do you think I can see her again sometime soon? Maybe go do something?"

"You'll have to talk to my parents about that. They're the main guardians," Emily said, turning to look at Rollins. He was wiping his eyes with one of his hands, and sniffled slightly.

"H-Hey, are you crying?" Emily asked, frowning and leaning forward to get a better view. Rollins continued to wipe his eyes, and a soft whimper left his lips. "What's going on?"

Rollins continued to sob, "I pushed her," he said, between the sobs. "I pushed Ali."

"You what?" Emily asked, frowning. "What do you mean you pushed her?"

"I'm the reason that she got hurt," Rollins said, lifting his hands away from his face. Emily saw his dark brown eyes were wet from his tears, his cheeks wet as well.

"What?!" Emily asked in disbelief. "What happened?"

"I came home, and I know I shouldn't have drank that much but I did. She and I got into a fight as usual, and I pushed her. She lost her footing and fell backwards and smacked the back of her head on the end of my bedside table," Rollins said. "I'm such an awful person. I hurt my wife and neglected my daughter for sixteen years."

"Elliot, you're not an awful person I-" Emily didn't know what else to say. Why did Alison lie about what happened? Did she not want her to worry?

"I am Emily! I fucking can't do anything right! I fell in love with Rowan and I got her pregnant when she was a teenager, and then I neglected my daughter. I married Alison and everything was great, but she and I both want different things right now and my marriage is falling apart," Rollins sobbed, and placed his head on the steering wheel. "I'm a psychiatrist and I can't even keep my own life together."

"Do you think the amount of alcohol you consume has something to do with it?" Emily asked, looking at Rollins. His body was heaving as he sobbed.

"I don't know, Alison mentioned I drink too much. But I've always drank that much, I swear! A lot has been going on in my life, and I don't know what to do," Rollins said, wiping his eyes and looking at Emily.

"Look, everyone has these rough patches in their life. Life happens, and unfortunately things change. It sucks, life sucks. We never seem to get what we want, and happiness doesn't seem to last for very long. I can't say shit about tough life experiences though, the worst thing that's happened to me is I've broken my leg and the person I'm falling in love with is-" Emily paused, her words catching in her throat. "Besides the point. If you want to fix your life, you're going to have to take a step forward and try to fix it. You can't just sit back and drink booze and hope things will turn out for the better."

"I know," Rollins said. "I know. Sorry, Rowan's death has had me very emotional."

"It's alright to be sad, I understand," Emily said, smiling comfortingly. "Rowan meant a lot to you, she meant a lot to all of us."

"I'll never love someone as much or quite like I loved her," Rollins admitted. "Please don't tell Alison that."

"I think you should probably be getting back to her, she's at the hospital alone," Emily said.

"Why should I? God, Emily, I don't think she loves me anymore. We haven't had sex in months, she barely says she loves me anymore. We barely spend time together, she's always angry with me!" Rollins said, frustration edging his voice.

"Alison may be mad at you right now, but you are her husband for one thing. And number two, you are the one who caused her to end up in the hospital. The least you can do is stay there and keep her company," Emily said.

"You're right, you're right," Rollins said, sniffling and wiping his eyes. "I'm sorry I said that, I didn't mean to dump all of that on you. There's just been a lot on my mind."

"It's okay, I get it. I do," Emily said.

"Thank you," Rollins said, looking at Emily and smiling slightly. "I'm sorry once again."

"Don't worry about it at all, it's really not that big of a deal. I was-" Emily began, but was cut off by Rollins leaning forward and firmly pressing his lips to hers.

The second she realized what was happening, her hands flew up and pushed Rollins off her with enough force that he flew back in his seat. Emily's face contorted in anger and shock.

"What the fuck?!" Emily yelled. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm sorry! You remind me so much of Rowan, you're like a younger version of her!" Rollins sighed, and placed his head in his hands. "I just want to be loved."

"I don't know if you've gotten the memo yet, but I'm very lesbian. As in no men for me," Emily said, fumbling on her words as she tried to hide her shock and anger.

"I know, I know," he whined. "I just got caught up in it and all, you just remind me of Rowan. You look so much alike."

"Speak of this to no one," Emily threatened. "Do not tell Alison about what just happened, or anyone else. If you do, I will personally come and find you. I'm in the military remember, don't think I don't know what I'm doing."

Emily got hastily out of Rollins's car, and slammed the door behind her with enough force to shake the car slightly. She walked as fast as her booted leg would take her, and frantically wiped the disgusting feeling from her lips.

She could see why Alison didn't like kissing Rollins anymore. Or maybe it was because she just wasn't into guys.

* * *

In late January, Emily found herself back in Dr. Gordon's office. She hadn't been going to therapy for a few weeks, cancelling for stupid reasons. It was mostly because she just didn't want to go, but she felt guilty once her mother expressed her concern for her. Her mother only meant well, and Emily did notice that she was beginning to mentally slip again.

Dr. Gordon's office changed a bit, and Emily quickly noticed. There was a new photo on his desk, of a newborn baby wrapped in a green baby blanket. Dr. Gordon told Emily that the baby was his newborn daughter, who was born in early January. Her name was Lexa, and his son Blake already loved her to bits.

For some reason, this struck a question in Emily's head. Did she want children? Sure she thought about it, but not that often. She had no one to think about having kids with in the past five years, she hadn't had a serious relationship. Back in high school, she didn't want to get too far ahead of herself but now it was different. Did she want kids?

Yes, her mind answered. Emily could see herself being a mother, but with who? Alison? If she ever decided to leave her husband, which she was going to eventually do right? A guilt had set in on Emily after her talk with Rollins. He was at least trying with Alison after all, and here she was coming in between their marriage by having an affair with Alison.

Dr. Gordon now had a cat in his office. His name was Tywin, an orange tabby that liked to sit on his patient's lap and purred loudly whenever you scratched him under the chin. Dr. Gordon was a big Game of Thrones nerve, so it was fitting that his cat would be named after a character from the books.

"So, Emily," Dr. Gordon said, clicking his pen as he often did between their talking periods. "Other than being able to sleep better, has anything else changed that you've noticed? Either in relationships or just things around you?"

"Well, I tried meeting people," Emily said. "I reconnected with this girl I used to know in high school. We were never that close in high school, but things are different now as they usually are."

"Is this in a friendship or romantic sense?" Dr. Gordon asked.

"Well it started off pretty friendly, but it turned into a sort of hook up thing," Emily explained. "It's a bit of a complicated situation."

"Do you wish to elaborate?" Dr. Gordon asked.

"No not really," Emily shrugged.

"Have you had any other romantic interests at all?" Dr. Gordon asked.

"No, people have tried but I'm not really interested," Emily shrugged. "Exactly, one of my best friends Toby and Spencer are taking me and some girl Toby wants me to meet to a football game. That is if the Eagles make it to the Super Bowl."

"We can pray they do," Dr. Gordon laughed. "I'm a big Eagles fan. I think it's good that you're at least trying Emily. I know the transition can be hard, but two months in and you're doing very well. Has your doctor discussed when you're going to get that brace off and do physical therapy?"

"Sometime in April he's predicting," Emily said, looking down at her bound leg. "Not sure how long physical therapy will last. It just depends on how good I can walk once I get back up there."

"Is the army planning on re-enlisting you?" Dr. Gordon asked.

"I think so, but doubtful as a combat medic again. I don't think I'll ever be able to step back out there again," Emily shivered slightly, trying not to think back to her time in Afghanistan.

"Right, of course. The only downfall to this is, you could have a relationship, but then you would have to leave them and only come back for a month every year to visit them," Dr. Gordon said.

Emily chuckled, "You don't need to remind me."

* * *

On February 4th, Emily awoke to the sound of her phone ringing. Her eyes shot open, as her phone vibrated from the bedside table. She squinted in the dark and looked at the caller ID. A photo of Alison appeared on her phone, along with her name across the top. Emily reached across and fumbled with her phone. She had upgraded to a new phone less than a week ago, since her old one was over five years old. The new version of the phone was a lot bigger, and still took some getting used to.

"Hello?" Emily croaked.

"Emily," Alison's voice answered. Her voice was heavy, and Emily could hear small sobs emitting from the receiver.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Emily asked, sitting up in bed. The cloudiness already leaving her mind.

"I think something's wrong with Pepe," Alison said. "He hasn't been eating for the past few days, and he can't even make it outside to use the bathroom anymore. He just mopes around all day and whines occasionally. Can you please come over?"

"Yeah, yeah of course," Emily said, throwing the bed sheets away from her body. It was close to 4am. "Where's Rollins?"

"He went to go visit his family," Alison said. "I'm here alone, I don't know what to do about Pepe."

"I'll be right over, hang tight," Emily said, shimmying out of her pajamas.

Emily and Alison sat on the ground of Alison's kitchen, with a mopey Pepe at their feet. He hadn't moved since Emily arrived, and only sheepishly wagged his tail when Emily entered the kitchen.

Pepe didn't look good, worse than before. He just laid on the floor, and let Alison rub his stomach. His breathing was a bit labored, and Alison was crying heavily.

Emily immediately sat down next to Alison, and pulled her into a tight hug. It was unspoken, but they both knew that it was Alison's time to take Pepe to the vet. They sat in silence for over twenty minutes, just sitting with Pepe and making sure that he was alright.

"Are you taking him to the vet tomorrow?" Emily asked, as Alison rested her head on Emily's shoulder. "You know, to put him down.

"I think so," Alison said. "Will you come with me? It's going to be really hard."

"Of course it'll be hard," Emily said. "And of course I'll with you. You should probably go to bed now, we can't do anything about him now. It's late."

"Will you sleep with me?" Alison asked, as Emily stood up.

"Of course, baby," Emily said, holding out her hand. "Let's go to bed."

Emily laid awake in Alison's bed, Rollins's and Alison's bed. She felt guilty, he was trying! She couldn't prevent herself from not being with Alison like this, she felt something for Alison that was different than anything she had ever felt before. It was a scary and weird feeling.

Alison wasn't intertwined with her, instead she was apart from Emily, but facing her still. That was fine, she didn't expect Alison to cuddle with her every night, but it was nice to feel her skin. Alison's golden blonde hair fell down the side of her face and down her back in loose curls, and her full eyelashes covered sea blue eyes. She looked so angelic lying there, forgetting about what was going to happen when she awoke.

Emily watched her, trying to find her own sleep. It was a hard thing to do, especially when it was already close to morning by now. The sun was started to light up the sky, and Emily watched as the sky began to get brighter and brighter.

She didn't end up sleeping, instead she watched Alison sleep. She felt bad for her. Emily never really had a pet, so she never experienced pet death. But she felt Alison's grief, even if it wasn't her dog that was going to be put down in a few hours. She felt a lot of things for Alison, and she was glad that she was there to help Alison get through it.

She liked it, the feeling of going through things with Alison. Being there for each other, and sharing intimate moments together. Emily always knew she wanted more from what she and Alison shared, she didn't want to verbalize that just in case Alison ended it entirely. But, did she want it now more than ever?

She tried to imagine she and Alison, a few kids running around. Would Alison have the kids, or would Emily? How would it work, and how many would they have? What would they look like?

The sun continued to rise, and Emily could hear Pepe hacking from downstairs in the kitchen where they left him to rest.

Here Emily was, here when Alison's husband wasn't, here to help Alison through the loss of her beloved Pepe. She was here, and she was always there when her husband wasn't.

* * *

 **reviews help a lot and are very uplifting to me:)**


	12. Chapter 12

Emily didn't go with Alison and Pepe to the veterinary hospital, instead Cece accompanied her. It was probably better this way, since Cece was partly Pepe's owner at one point, and Emily had never experienced pet death. She didn't know how to deal with it, the only pet she had was a goldfish when she was a eight named Captain Sparklez. She didn't leave Alison's house until Alison and Cece did, after picking up and putting Pepe in the back of her car. He was getting worse, and Emily felt bad as she stroked his ears one last time. His tail wagged weakly when she did so, and Emily felt a tightness in her throat.

She hadn't slept at all, and could feel her eyes burn with tiredness. Being mindful of her leg, she hoisted herself into the passenger seat of Alison's car. Cece took the back, sitting next to Pepe to pet him during his final hours. Alison looked numb, her face hard as she got in the driver's seat. Emily didn't know if Alison had dealt with death at all, other than Emily's aunt. As far as she knew, everyone in Alison's family was alive.

They drove in silence, the only sound heard was Pepe's heavy breathing and Cece shushing him when he would start whining. The seconds ticked by, and soon Alison was pulling into Emily's driveway.

Emily squeezed Alison's hand, "Are you going to be ok?" she asked.

Alison finally met her eyes, sad blue orbs that were glossed over from possible tears. She smiled weakly, and squeezed Emily's hand back.

"Yeah, I have Cece, I'll be ok," Alison said, looking to the side at her sister. "I'll call you afterward."

"Don't feel the need to, really it's fine," Emily said, opening the passenger door. "Call me on your own time."

"Thanks," Alison said, glancing at Pepe. "I think we should probably get going."

"If there's anything either of you need, let me know," Emily said.

"Thanks, Em. You've been a good friend to both of us," Cece smiled. "Pepe too."

* * *

The Philadelphia Eagles football stadium was packed with fans from all over Pennsylvania to see the Super Bowl game. Toby had scored four tickets to the game, winning them through a radio station. Once again, Emily wasn't a big football fan, but she wouldn't pass up an opportunity to hang out with one of her closest friends. Spencer was invited as well, along with one of their friends that Emily didn't know. Toby said he met her while studying abroad in Germany, and lived in a nearby small town of Pennsylvania.

Emily, with a white and teal football jersey on for a player she wouldn't be able to pick out in a crowd, followed Toby through the crowd of people. She tried her best to keep up, but the boot on her leg was restricting her from moving through the crowd with ease. Toby wanted to get beer before the game started, and Emily only followed because Spencer went off to go find their friend.

"Want anything?" Toby asked, as they arrived at the back of the long line.

"No, I'm on medication remember?" Emily said, as Toby stared at the menu.

"Right," he said, shaking his head in embarrassment. "It slipped my mind."

"And you know I'm not much of a beer drinker anyway," Emily said.

"Very true," Toby laughed. "Spencer should be here soon with our friend."

While they waited in line, Emily pulled her phone from her pocket. It was stupid of her to, since she knew she wouldn't have a notification from Alison. It had been a week, but Alison still hadn't reached out. Emily kept her space, she knew Alison had a lot on her plate. She didn't want to intrude either, and her husband had gotten back from Vancouver the night before.

Of course, Emily waited by the phone all day, and continued to talk to Cece to make sure nothing had changed. She was worried about Alison, and was worried about the growing feelings she had for the married woman. It was almost becoming reliant on Alison, in a weird sort of sense. She needed her in her life, and this had been the longest week ever. Did she love her?

"Hey! I found her! Emily this is Hailey, Toby's exchange student buddy," Spencer said, pulling Emily from her thoughts.

Emily turned to Spencer, an attractive girl standing next to her. Hailey was very attractive, with curly black hair that went down her back. Her smile was a bright white, and her eyes a dark brown like Emily's. She was wearing a teal Eagles long sleeve, with the Eagle mascot on the front. Emily wondered how she wasn't cold, since she wasn't wearing any sort of sweatshirt. Emily was glad she had worn a sweatshirt under the football jersey.

"Hey, I'm Emily," Emily said, smiling and shaking her hand with the shorter girl.

She smiled warmly back, "I know, Spencer and Toby have told me all about you," she said.

For once, Alison had slipped her mind. As they waited to get beer, Hailey and Emily fell into easy conversation. She knew a lot about football, and promised she would tell her what was going on so that Emily could follow along. As they waited, the pair talked about what they were currently doing.

"I graduated from Stanford last year for psychology, I actually have a job interview next week to join a psychology practice right outside of Philly," Hailey said.

"You graduated from Stanford?" Emily asked in amazement. "That's such a hard school to get into, how did you even pull that off?"

"I worked hard for four years of high school. Honestly when I submitted the application, I was expecting them to waitlist me at the most," Hailey said, as Toby handed her a beer in a clear plastic cup.

"Is there a specific group of people that you want to help?" Emily asked.

"I mean, not entirely. I really want to help kids with rough home lives, if it be those who live in the projects, or those who get everything they want. I just want to help," Hailey said, as they followed Spencer and Toby to their seats.

"I don't think I would ever be able to give advice to people, especially without living it first," Emily said.

"Yeah, well you help people out in a different way. You're a combat medic right?" Hailey asked.

"Yeah...well I was. I got hurt and broke my leg, so I'm on medical leave right now," Emily said, motioning to the boot on her leg.

"Oh right, Toby mentioned that. I'm really sorry about what happened," Hailey said, as they walked down concrete steps to their seats.

"Don't worry about it, I'm just glad to be alive," Emily said, her mind racing to change the subject. "Toby said you met in Germany? Did you do a lot of studying abroad in college?"

"Not really, Germany was the only semester I did," Hailey explained. "My mom's family is all from Germany, and I thought I might as well visit some point in my life. Same thing for my dad's side, his family is predominantly from Jamaica."

"Have you ever been?" Emily asked.

"A few times on vacation, but not for an extended period of time like I did in Germany," Hailey said. "It's very rastafarian in Jamaica."

"Oh really?" Emily asked, as they filed into their seats. They were fairly close to the field, enough that Emily could make out the faces of each of the players.

"Yeah, I was obsessed with Jamaican culture when I was like fourteen. I even went through a dreadlock phase," Hailey laughed, though Emily could sense a hint of sarcasm in her statements.

"It was a very long process. I didn't want to shave my head so we had someone untangle them one by one. I think it took a few days," Hailey said. "I just leave it in its natural curls now."

"My hair only looks good how it is, but then again I haven't really had time or a reason to do anything else to it," Emily said, playing with her own hair as Hailey sipped her beer.

"I think it would look really good with some blonde highlights," Hailey said, reaching across to play with Emily's hair as well.

"You know I actually did that in my senior year of high school," Emily said.

"Really? Well I'm glad you did, you must've looked bomb," Hailey said.

Hailey and Emily talked...for a long time. Emily felt bad that they were basically ignoring Toby and Spencer, but neither of them seemed to mind. Both Emily and Hailey apologized to Toby and Spencer, but the couple waved them off and said that they were glad they were becoming friends.

The game started, and their conversations moved to football. Hailey's dad loved football, especially the Eagles. He was jealous that she was going to the Super Bowl, and had taken her to many Eagles games. Hailey's brother Rico, was playing football at Tulane in Louisiana.

About a quarter of the way through the game, Emily wasn't paying much attention at all. Hailey had stopped explaining what was going on, and they turned to conversations more about their life.

"So, Emily, what lucky someone has you to themselves?" Hailey asked.

Emily smiled, and looked down at her hands which were placed in her lap. Should she say Alison? Toby and Spencer were within ear shot, and neither of them knew about the relationship between she and Alison. But on the other hand, she and Alison weren't even officially anything? Sure they had something, but in the end Alison was still married and it was still Elliot that she would go home to.

"No one," Emily said, it wasn't a lie. "I haven't really been looking."

"What?" Hailey asked, in a little bit of shock. "You totally seemed like you would have someone special."

"Not really," Emily said, sheepishly. "I haven't had a serious relationship since high school. It's kind of hard when you're in the military for eleven months of the year."

"Well, what people were in your life previously?" Hailey asked.

"Just this girl, it wasn't anything major. I honestly don't like to think about it," Emily laughed, remembering the short relationship that had gone wrong.

"Ohhh, a girl. You're gay?" Hailey asked.

"Yeah, boys were never my thing. Though that didn't seem to stop them from following me," Emily said. "Some guys just don't understand what the word lesbian actually means."

Hailey laughed, "I get what you mean."

"Are you gay too?" Emily asked.

"Not entirely. I'm bi, most of my past relationships have been with guys, but I am definitely into both," Hailey said. "When you told your parents, were they accepting of it?"

"Yeah, my dad was. I think my mom was a little confused too, but they know that it's who I am and they love me no matter who I am," Emily nodded. "Were yours?"

"It took them a little longer to get used to it, my brother was the most accepting. He and I have always been pretty close, I told him when I was a sophomore in high school. He was in eighth grade, and I thought he wouldn't get it. But, he was the most accepting," Hailey said.

"I wish I had a sibling like that," Emily commented.

"Yours aren't like that?" Hailey asked.

"No, I just don't have siblings," Emily said. "It's just me, I used to want a little sister when I was like five."

"All the attention must've been on you, being the only child and all," Hailey said.

"Yeah, for the most part," Emily said. "But I didn't really do much that would require them to have my full attention on me."

Right before half time, Hailey had finished her first beer and was beginning to get hungry. She asked if Emily wanted to share fries with her, and grabbed her hand to make her come with her. Emily didn't protest, Hailey was great company, and funny too. She had her life together, was living on her own closeby to her parents, and had a bright future ahead of her in psychology.

As they were walking back from the food stand, Emily's phone buzzed in her pocket. Her dad had went out and gotten the newest iPhone for her, since her old phone barely hung on anymore. It wasn't that it was in bad shape, it was just the phone was so old that the newest software on the phone made it slow. Emily didn't care, but she enjoyed having a faster phone, and now she could watch Netflix with ease from her phone.

Emily pulled out her phone, the sender of the text had completely slipped her mind until their name appeared on the screen.

 **Alison: Hey! I'm really sorry about not texting you all week :( I heard you were at the Super Bowl with Spencer and Toby! Send me a pic, I'm sure you're wearing a bomb outfit xx**

Emily had slowed down walking, causing Hailey to turn around and look back at her.

"You okay?" Hailey asked, extending her hand out for Emily to grab.

"What?" Emily asked, looking up and stowing her phone away. "Yeah, I just got a text from someone and got a little sidetracked."

Making a note of herself to reply to Alison's text after the game, Emily took Hailey's extended hand. Emily was surprised when Hailey didn't let go, and instead locked their fingers together. Emily looked down at their hands, she had only held hands with Alison in the past five years.

Hailey was different, and wasn't married and unavailable like Alison was…

* * *

Rollins was jealous that Emily was at the Super Bowl, having heard from Alison. There was a Super Bowl party going on at their house. Their friends (mostly Rollins) were crowded in their living room with various snack food on their coffee table. Alison wasn't into the game, or the party. She sat on an arm chair in the corner of the room, her legs crossed as she paid little attention to the game in silence.

The people in her house were loud, and Alison could hear her husband's laughter the loudest. To Alison's surprise, he had shotgun a beer with one of his friends. They had made a bet that whenever the Eagles made a touchdown, they would have to shotgun a can of beer. She had never seen her husband do it, he didn't get crazy with his drinking, he just drank a lot.

The second quarter was in full swing, with the Eagles only having seven points, and the 49ers having thirteen. There was more yelling both from the fans at the game, and the fans in her living room as an Eagles center linebacker intercepted the ball and took off.

"That's what I'm talking about!" her husband yelled, his face red from the yelling and the alcohol he was consuming. His hair, which was normally combed neatly, was disheveled and falling in his face. He needed a haircut, his hair was becoming too long and in his face without being combed back.

The linebacker was tackled, making it about a hundred yards. The crowd was going crazy at the turnover, since the Eagles were now fairly close to their touchdown zone. She knew that if they scored, her husband would soon be chugging another beer as fast as he could.

The TV switched to the cheering crowd, showing two guys with full on face paint and jerseys screaming and beating their chests. Alison watched at them celebrating, and looked in surprise as the screen changed to another group of people. She immediately recognized Spencer, Toby, and Emily who were cheering with the crowd. In between Toby and Emily was a girl that Alison didn't recognize, who had her hand on Emily's leg.

Alison's jaw hardened, but the TV soon turned back to the game. She only had a glimpse, but it was another to make heat rise to her cheeks. She hadn't talked to Emily all week, it wasn't that she didn't want to. She was just getting over what happened with Pepe, and was swamped with schoolwork to correct. Sure, it wasn't a great excuse to ignore Emily, but now that she saw another girl with a hand on her leg, she was pulling out her phone.

She typed a quick message to her, and was glad she didn't hit send. Her text message sounded jealous and slightly creepy, since Alison openly asked who the girl was that Emily was with. Why should she be this mad? She and Emily weren't dating...Emily wasn't hers… But yet she was at the same time. It was a bit hypocritical to be thinking that, since here Alison was a married woman. But to her, Emily was hers.

Instead, she wrote a sweet message, apologizing and making a conversation. She hoped she would be able to see Emily soon. She missed her face, her voice, her lips, her roaming hands. She just missed Emily, and wanted her both in her arms and in her bed as soon as possible.

Following seeing Emily on TV, her eyes stayed glued to the screen in case she came on again. Of course, that was pretty unlikely, but Alison wanted to know who this girl was. Did she like Emily? Were they a thing? Would Emily stop seeing her because of this girl? Whoever it was, she had her hands on Emily. Alison hid her annoyance by sipping her drink.

This was not okay.

* * *

"I cannot believe they won!" Toby said, as they exited the stadium. Thousands of other Eagles fans followed suit, leaving the stadium in high spirits.

"That halftime show was amazing, I had a feeling that Fifth Harmony was going to have a great show," Spencer said, as Toby wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"I've been a fan of Fifth Harmony since they started honestly," Hailey commented. "I've been their fan since X Factor."

"I've only heard their hit songs that are on the radio, I guess I'll have to listen to them more after that show tonight," Emily said.

"You really should!" Hailey said, as they walked to the parking lot. "Their 7/27 album is still my favorite, but their newest one is good too."

The four continued to talk about the game, the halftime show, the fight they witnessed, and what they were doing the next day. Emily had a great time, and with the help of Hailey knew the basics of football. She knew enough now that she was able to follow along by the end. She knew what the whole 'downs' thing meant.

When they got to their cars, Hailey hugged Emily tightly. Hailey was a few inches shorter than her, and fit right into her body with ease. Emily hugged back, happy to have met her. She was very different than the kind of girls she was used to.

"We definitely should do something soon," Hailey said, letting go of Emily.

"Yeah, of course!" Emily said.

"Can I have your number? We could coordinate something whenever you want to," Hailey said, removing her phone from her pocket. She had the same model and color phone as Emily.

Emily gave Hailey her phone number, happy to see the attractive woman again. After exchanging one last hug, Emily got into the backseat of Toby's car. It wasn't until they were on the highway home that Toby spoke up about Hailey.

"So, you two hit it off well," he said, looking at Emily through the rearview mirror.

"Yeah," Emily smiled. "She's really cool."

"See Spencer, I told you they would like each other," Toby said, nudging Spencer.

Emily's mouth fell open, "You two set me up?" she asked.

"I'm not going to admit to anything," Spencer said.

"Spencer and I thought that since you were here, you might as well have a little fun or at least find someone steady," Toby said.

"I am having fun!" Emily said. "I didn't need your help!"

"Well, you wouldn't have met anyone if we didn't give you a little push. Come on Em, I know you," Toby said.

Emily rolled her eyes, he was right.

* * *

Hailey and Emily talked over the next few days nonstop, almost as much as she talked to Alison. Alison still sent more texts than Hailey did, and was trying to get Emily over to her house for some much needed "stress relief." Emily definitely wanted to see Alison, but she had become busy with becoming Aria's model for her newest photography showcase, and her dad needed her help with various things.

Valentine's Day rolled around on February 14th, and for once Emily had plans. Surprisingly, they weren't with Alison. Alison was being taken to some extremely expensive Italian restaurant in Philly, which didn't surprise Emily. Lately, Rollins had been trying his hardest to keep Alison happy, to no avail.

For Emily, Hailey was coming from her town an hour and a half away to see take Emily out for Valentine's Day. Emily protested with her driving that far, but Hailey claimed that she was happy to make the trip. When Hailey pulled into her driveway in a black Mercedes SUV, she realized that Hailey must come from money. That, or she already had made enough to get a high end car.

Was it a date? Emily didn't know, since nothing had been established. But, she enjoyed her time with Hailey, and tried not to think about the good time that Alison was probably having with her husband. Alison told Emily she wouldn't have a good time, but Emily didn't really believe her. Going to spend $500 on food and wine was a good night no matter who you were going with.

Her night out with Hailey was fun, they went to Emily's favorite restaurant and ate various appetizers instead of one meal. Hailey mostly talked about herself, which was fine. Emily learned a lot about her, like how she played field hockey and lacrosse in high school. Or how she broke her arm after being thrown from the back of someone's truck.

"Wait you were thrown from someone's truck? As in someone threw you?" Emily asked.

"Yeah," Hailey said, casually. "I fell wrong, and fell on my arm."

After noticing Emily's shocked face, she added, "Oh, it wasn't moving."

Emily talked about her time in the army, but didn't go into many specifics. She talked about her friends, avoided mentioning Alison, and about what high school was like for her. Taking out everything that happened in the army, there wasn't a lot to talk about. It was probably a good thing that Hailey did most of the talking then.

She felt good being with Hailey, and being alone with her was fun as well. The conversation flowed smoothly, and the hours ticked by before it was time to leave.

Hailey drove her home at eleven, and pulled into her driveway. Part of Emily didn't want the night to end, she had enjoyed it a lot. When she would see Alison, it was usually in private places. At least, in public they would act as friends. It felt nice to be in public and not have to worry about any of that.

"I hope you had a fun time," Hailey said, as she parked her car.

"I did," Emily said. "I haven't had a Valentine since like fifth grade."

"Who was your Valentine?" Hailey asked.

"This girl named Alison," Emily smiled.

And it was true, Alison was her Valentine in fifth grade. It wasn't planned really, it was mostly because Emily was there at the right time. She forgot about the event until she started talking to Hailey about doing something on Valentine's Day.

 _In elementary school, it was required for someone in class to give a Valentine to everyone in the class. Cheesy cards were given accompanied by tiny fun sized bags of candy, and placed in everyone's boxes. Even if you didn't like them, you had to give them a Valentine._

 _Emily had done her Valentine's the night before, sitting at the dining room table and wrote out each one. Her cheesy Valentine cards were Spongebob themed, each one had a different Spongebob pun on it about Valentine's Day. After signing the typical "To (blank) From Emily" she stuck a krabby patty gummy to each of the Valentine's cards._

 _At school, they went around and put their Valentine's in everyone's box. She gave an extra gummy to Aria, who was in her class that year. She finally got to Alison's, a hot pink box with gold sparkly lettering that spelt out her name. There was a crown foam sticker stuck to the side, which was fitting due to her social status that had already started to develop. On Alison's Valentine was a little note that said, "I think your nails are really pretty right now! The yellow is a really good color :) Emily." She was nervous to put it in Alison's box, but did anyway before she could back out. What if Alison thought she was weird for writing her a note?_

 _It wasn't until recess, after they had gotten a chance to look at their Valentine's that someone tugged on Emily's arm and pulled her away from Aria and the rest of the class that was going outside for recess after lunch. Shocked, Emily turned to see who had pulled on her arm._

 _It was Alison, her signature smirk/smile on her face. Her hair was curlier than it was in the upcoming years of school, and she had gotten tiny pink braid hair extensions in her hair. She pulled Emily back into the classroom, and let go of her arm once they were inside._

" _I read your note on my Valentine," Alison said, and Emily couldn't tell if she was preparing to make fun of her. "I love those krabby patty gummy things by the way."_

" _Th-Thanks," Emily mumbled, not knowing what Alison was going to say about the note. "They're one of my favorites too."_

" _Do you really like my nails?" Alison asked, looking down at her yellow painted nails. "My mom said that yellow's the ugliest color, but I love the color yellow."_

" _No! They're really cool, I wish I was good at painting my nails. I would definitely have that color on them," Emily said, looking down at her own nails._

" _Do you want me to paint them for you? Right now?" Alison asked, perking up._

" _You have nail polish?" Emily asked, as Alison ran to her backpack which was hung on her chair. She opened the light pink bag and dug through its contents before pulling out a bottle of nail polish that was the same color as Alison's nails._

" _Yeah, I honestly don't know why I put it in my bag," Alison shrugged. "But it's a good thing I did."_

" _Shouldn't we be out at recess though? Won't we get in trouble?" Emily asked, looking around the empty classroom._

" _No one will know we're in here, and if we get in trouble we can say that you were helping me with something. Now sit down and let me paint your nails," Alison said, her voice commanding at the end. She motioned to one of the tables, and Emily quickly moved to sit down in one of the chairs._

 _She stayed absolutely still, and watched Alison's face twist in concentration as she painted her nails yellow. They didn't talk much while she did it, which was probably good. Emily didn't trust her voice if she did have to talk. Occasionally, Alison would blow cool air on Emily's fingers in attempts to dry them. Emily tried not to squirm._

 _When she was done, Alison smiled to herself in satisfaction and screwed the yellow polish closed. Emily looked down at her nails, Alison really was good at doing them. There wasn't any nail polish on any part of her skin, and her nails never looked better. It really was a good color, and Emily thanked her._

" _Don't mention it," Alison said. "It's the least I could do for my Valentine."_

" _Your what?" Emily asked, stunned. Did she hear her right?_

" _My Valentine. Noel wanted to be my Valentine, but you're definitely the better option," Alison said, touching Emily's shoulder._

" _Oh, thanks. But really, your nails just looked really good," Emily said._

" _Thanks," Alison smiled. "You know, you're supposed to kiss your Valentine on Valentine's Day."_

 _Emily was even more stunned than before, and rose from her chair. She was standing right in front of her, still unsure if she heard her right._

" _Well? Are you going to do it?" Alison asked, fiddling with the top of the nail polish._

" _Uh, I don't know how-" Emily began._

 _Alison seemed to get quickly fed up with Emily's stalling, and leaned forward herself and pecked Emily's lips. It was short, it was barely a kiss. But still a kiss._

 _Emily stood there stunned, as Alison smiled and went to go put her nail polish away. Emily never would forget her only Valentine._

"Alison, nice name," Hailey said. "She must've been something special."

Emily laughed, "She is."

"Do you still keep in touch?" Hailey asked.

"Yeah, we're friends," Emily nodded.

"Nice, well it was nice spending time with you Emily. Hopefully we can do it again?" Hailey asked.

"Yes! Definitely," Emily agreed.

"Goodnight," she smiled.

"Night," Emily smiled.

She exited the car, and made her way into the house. The lights were off, so she assumed her family was asleep. Trying to be as quiet as she could, she climbed the stairs to her room. The stairs creaked underneath her, and she cringed. It wasn't that she would get in trouble if her parents knew she was out late, she wasn't in high school and was a full grown adult.

She opened the door to her dark room, and shut the door behind her. She began shrugging out of her jacket and then pulled her top over her head before hitting the lightswitch.

"Jesus!" Emily said, jolting at the sight of Alison laying out on her bed. "You scared the shit out of me."

"I was trying to be dramatic," Alison said, pouting as she sat up.

Emily noticed what she was wearing, or what she wasn't wearing. She and Alison were wearing the same amount of clothing, and Emily was missing her top. She stared for a moment, before looking back up at Alison's face.

"I didn't see your car, how did you even get up here?" Emily asked.

"I snuck in, I didn't want your parents to know," Alison laughed. "Or they would definitely be onto me."

"What are we in high school?" Emily asked, rolling her eyes playfully.

"Nice bra," Alison commented, nodding at Emily's white bra.

"Thanks, yours too," Emily smirked, watching Alison's chest as she took a deep breath. "Your Valentine doesn't care you left?"

"First, Rollins went out with his friends once again. And second, you're my Valentine," Alison said. "I came all the way over here and snuck into your room and dressed like this for a reason."

Emily smiled, and made her way towards Alison on her bed. "You look gorgeous," she said, her body already beginning to take over.

Emily stared for a moment, as she pushed Alison back on the bed and climbed on top of her. She took it all in, the blonde girl under her and the smell of her familiar perfume. Alison's breathing caught in her throat, and her eyes locked with Emily's.

"You know you're supposed to kiss your Valentine on Valentine's Day right?" she teased.

"Sorry, just taking you all in," Emily said. "You know you were my first kiss right?"

"That was my goal back in fifth grade. And you were mine," Alison said. "I'm really getting antsy, Em."

"Sorry," Emily mumbled, lowering herself to kiss Alison softly.

Alison's hands ran up Emily's side and wrapped around her waist, pulling Emily down on top of her to pull their bodies flush against each other. Emily let out a slight moan, causing Alison to break their kiss.

"If you want to get any tonight, you're going to have to be quiet," Alison said, tracing her finger on Emily's bottom lip.

"Sorry, I can't help myself," Emily said. "You know what you do to me."

"I hope so," Alison said. "You make me feel wanted."

* * *

 **OKAY LET ME SAY I'M SO SORRY I DIDN'T UPDATE FOR TWO MONTHS.**

 **Basically I was finishing my junior year of high school, and that was insane with SATs and ACTs and finals so I had no time to write this, instead just post already written stuff from my other fic. I'm out for summer now so I'll be able to update frequently now.**

 **If you haven't already seen, I have a new fic. It's Emison/Alison centric superhero fic called Supreme. Please check it out if you're interested and leave me a review :)**


	13. Chapter 13

Alison awoke with the rising sun, close to seven AM. She was wrapped in Emily's warmth, her arm snuggly wrapped around Emily's stomach. She looked down at where her arm was placed, and moved it slightly. By moving her arm, Alison saw dark red marks on Emily's stomach in various places. Alison had gotten a little carried away the previous night, but she couldn't help it. This was Emily, the godly woman who returned home from war in her physical prime. She was surprised that Emily was able to stay relatively quiet, and she traced the marks on Emily's stomach with her finger.

She heard a slight grunt, and looked up to see Emily frowning slightly. She was still asleep, but lightly brushing a finger on her abdomen was probably ticklish. Emily was very ticklish. After Alison stopped, Emily's face relaxed and she let out a deep breath as she continued to sleep. Her protective arms squeezed Alison a little tighter, as Alison shifted to get closer to Emily.

The same hand that was brushing Emily's stomach moved to her cheek, and traced a finger along her jawbone lightly. She was always first to wake up after a night of love with Emily, and she was glad it was that way. She could admire Emily without the embarrassment of just staring at her while she was awake. Emily's face was extremely well structured, and Alison silently thanked Emily's parents for gifting Alison with such an amazing person.

It was also times like this where she doubted her marriage, why couldn't she just do it? Why couldn't she leave her husband for Emily, the woman she had always carried a torch for? It was true, Emily was always the one Alison never got over. That one person you waited for, but it never worked out. Until now, now Emily was lying naked beneath her, and now Emily finally had Alison's name on her lips. Emily was Alison's, but she wasn't hers at the same time.

From the very beginning, it was Emily who stayed in Alison's thoughts. There were other people in her life, those she had felt romantically for. Her husband, her flames in high school, that one girl in college who looked A LOT like Emily. But there was always Emily, the one in her dreams and the one that she used to relate songs to in high school.

 _She can still remember the day, when Emily walked in her life wearing black converse, overalls, and a black t-shirt. She was new to the school, and every first grader was talking about the arrival of 'the new girl named Emily from Virginia.' Ali didn't think much of it, she already had four best friends. She didn't need anymore. What more could a six year old want? Noel was enough for her as well, but he kept asking her to be his girlfriend. Gross!_

 _So, the crisp October day that the newest student was coming to class didn't even cross her mind until the teacher announced her to the class. Alison was doing her morning math, and she was already very good at it. 45 - 13 = 32….60 + 50 = 110…_

" _Okay class, like I said today we are welcoming a new student to our class! She's here all the way from Virginia Beach," Mrs. West said, her voice enthusiastic. It wasn't everyday that a new family moved into the quiet town of Rosewood, which was tucked away on the outskirts of Philadelphia._

 _Alison didn't pay Mrs. West any mind, she wanted to finish her math before anyone else. She wanted to prove to Noel that she wasn't stupid, because he had said his friend Trevor told him that all blondes were stupid._

" _This is Emily Fields, and she'll be part of our little posse for the rest of the first grade!" Mrs. West said. "Emily, you can sit at that empty desk right there. I already made you a nametag, and you can put your backpack under your desk. You'll be sitting next to Hanna and Daniel."_

 _Alison continued her math, as she heard the new girl move along the desk and sit down. She occupied the empty desk diagonal from Alison. One row forward and to the left one. She heard Hanna Marin introduce herself, Alison wasn't friends with her. She was a little weird, and laughed the loudest in the class. The new girl introduced herself too, saying her dad was in the military and had been relocated to Rosewood._

 _It wasn't until Ali had completed her math that she looked up from her paper. Mrs. West had given the new girl a math paper, and all Ali could see was her back. Her feet didn't touch the floor, like everyone else in the class. She swung them absentmindedly as she did her work. She had long flowing dark brown hair, that almost looked black. It fell down her back and ended two inches below her shoulder blades. She had pretty hair, Alison would give her that._

 _Just as she was about to show Noel the fact she had gotten all of the math questions right and before he finished, Spencer spoke up to talk to the new girl. Spencer was Alison's friend, and sat next to Alison on the left. Spencer was clearly trying to be friends with this new girl, who turned around in her desk to look at Spencer._

 _Ali caught a full on view of the girl, and sucked in a breath. She was pretty, really pretty. Alison instantly felt jealous, she knew this girl would grow up to be one of those girls who everyone would watch in the hallways. Someone Ali herself was hoping to become._

 _Long eyelashes surrounded dark brown eyes, and she looked shy. She had the nervous look on her face that Ali immediately noticed. Her skin was still tan from the summer, and the flower earrings in her ears let Alison know that she had just recently gotten her ears pierced._

 _What was her name? Emily? What a fitting name, as another feeling quickly flared in her stomach. It wasn't jealousy now, and it would take Alison four more years to finally figure out what she was feeling in her stomach as she laid eyes upon Emily Fields. She had an urge to impress Emily, to make her notice Alison._

" _Look Noel, I told you I could do math," Alison said, a little more loudly than usual. "No more dumb blonde jokes from you."_

 _She looked back in Emily's direction, and noticed Emily looking at her. Her brown eyes searched Alison's blue, as blue and brown met for the first time. It would be the first of many. The first of many glances that they would share over the next eleven years. The lingering smiles, the glances during class. Little did either know that in seventeen years, they would kissing the other like their life depended on it, and sharing far more intimate moments that they had ever shared with anyone else. But then and there, it was a glance. And then a smile from Alison, which was quickly returned by Emily, a look of relief on her face._

" _I'm Ali," Ali said._

" _I'm Emily," Emily replied._

 _And that was it._

 _It wasn't until gym when they were picking teams for medical knockout that she had a chance to get attention from Emily. The gym teacher was splitting them up, and Ali slowly moved toward Emily. Emily noticed she was inching towards her, but didn't say anything as she got closer._

 _When Coach Kidd was about to split them up, Alison clutched Emily's arm._

" _She's new to the school today, I want her to be on my team," Ali said, putting on her DiLaurentis charm that she didn't know she was capable of until a few years later._

 _The coach shrugged and put them on the same time, and proceeded to put Noel on the other team. Alison beamed widely as she and Emily ran over to their team which was huddling on one side of the gym._

 _In the end, Alison had been chosen to be the "medic" in the game. The game was similar to classic dodgeball. When a player got hit with a ball by the other team, they would just sit down. The medic would run around and 'cure' the team members, while avoiding the the balls from the other team who were trying to get the medic out. Alison didn't like being the medic, but Emily volunteered to be her protector the second Ali was placed as medic._

 _Ali smiled at Emily, happy that Emily was going to protect her from the other team trying to get her out. When the game started, Emily stood in front of her and shielded her with her body as Alison moved about the gym to cure her teammates. She always kept a hand on Emily's back, so that she could instantly cure Emily if she got hit with a ball. That, and she liked the secure feeling that Emily made her feel._

 _Little did she know that it wouldn't be the only time that Emily would make her feel safe. Or that that feeling she felt when with Emily would soon grow into something most people called love._

Alison smiled slightly, remembering the first time she had met Emily. It was crazy to think how Emily would be in her life all these years later, and that Ali would be lucky enough to wake up in her arms. With her eyes still transfixed on Emily's relaxed face, she leaned forward and placed a kiss on Emily's pulse point beneath her jaw. She felt Emily's heartbeat on her lips, and slowly pulled away.

"That tickles," Emily whispered, letting out a breathy laugh.

Alison was startled, and didn't realize that Emily was actually awake. Her eyes widened, as she pulled away from Emily's skin. Emily was looking down at her with sleepy eyes, barely open as she fought off slipping back to sleep. Without another word, Emily leaned down and kissed Ali. Her lips ghosted Ali's, gentle and slow as she cupped her cheek. Alison melted into it, her stomach turning with the barely there kisses they shared.

Emily broke the kiss and stared into Ali's eyes, reminding Ali of the first time that brown met blue back in first grade.

"Good morning," Ali said, smiling as she lightly bit Emily's bottom lip.

"Are you going to leave me?" Emily mumbled, nuzzling her head into Ali's bare shoulder.

"I've already been out for too long," Alison sighed. "He'll wonder where I am."

Emily sighed, and let Alison free of her hold. Alison moved and sat up, Emily's sheets falling down her body. She knew Emily was upset with her leaving again, yet she felt a warm hand on her lower back. Yes Emily was mad and disappointed, she didn't have to verbalize it. But, she still cared, and the soothing hand on Ali's lower back told all. Her thumb grazed Ali's spine which slightly stuck out of her skin. Her hand remained there, until Ali moved to find her clothes...well she didn't have much.

"You can't go outside looking like that, take some of mine," Emily said, automatically getting up to pull things from her closet.

She didn't look Alison in the eyes as she handed her a purple color run t-shirt and gray athletic shorts. Alison thanked her, and watched as Emily mumbled a "no problem" and slid back beneath the sheets. Alison stared at her back longingly, wanting nothing more than to slid back in the sheets as well.

She forced herself to dress, and put on Emily's clothes. She loved Emily's smell, more than any other smell in the world. She turned to Emily, and nudged her gently.

"Hey," Alison whispered.

Emily turned, and faced Ali. Alison caught a full view of Emily's chest, and forced herself to look at Emily's face.

"Yeah?" Emily asked.

The words caught in her throat, she knew she shouldn't say them, so she resisted. Instead, her mind raced to the next thing on her mind.

"One day, this will be different," Alison said.

"Different? Meaning there won't be any of this at all," Emily said.

"No, meaning there will be no more sneaking away. Just me and you," Alison said, stroking the hair out of her face.

"When?" Emily asked.

"I don't know, but it will be," Ali sighed. "Trust me."

* * *

The beginning of March meant March Madness, meaning Toby and Spencer were having a party. The basketball game was on in their living room and they had asked Emily to bring Hailey since Toby and Spencer had set them up. The party started at eight PM, but Emily and Hailey were running late. It was her parents' fault really, who wanted to meet Hailey. Emily didn't really care, and Hailey and her father were soon talking about the Super Bowl.

As they talked, Emily went to take her medication so that she wouldn't have to worry about it later that night. In the kitchen, her mom approached her and whispered, "She's very pretty! Are you together?"

Emily gulped down the pills with the water, and put the glass down. "Mom stop," she pleaded. "Don't say anything."

"I know! I'm sorry, I'm just happy you're finding someone in a time like this," Pam said, fixing Emily's jean jacket collar.

"We're just friends for right now mom," Emily said. "Friends before anything else."

"Alright, alright," Pam sighed. "I just want what's best for my favorite daughter."

"I'm your _only_ daughter," Emily pointed out.

When Hailey and Emily arrived at Spencer and Toby's, they found a bit of difficulty in finding a parking spot. The street was filled with cars, parked in the driveway and on the street. Hailey parked a few houses down, and joked with Emily as they got to the front door.

The house was filled with chattering adults, the sound of the TV, and occasional cheering. Emily let Hailey in first, and looked around the front hallway of the house for anyone she knew. She spotted Spencer off the bat, who was pouring guacamole from a container into a dish.

"Spence!" Emily called, causing Spencer to look over.

"Em! Hailey! You made it!" Spencer said, closing the lid of the store bought guacamole. She hurried over to the pair and hugged each of them. "Toby's probably in the living room. There's food and alcoholic beverages in the dining room and everyone's basically congregating in the living room."

"Red wine?" Hailey asked, giving Spencer an expecting look.

"Of course, I knew you were coming after all," Spencer said, "And what Hasting's household doesn't have red wine."

"Very true, we'll see you in there," Hailey said, reaching to lace her fingers with Emily's.

Hailey tugged Emily along and into their dining room, and poured herself a fairly large glass of red wine.

"I hope you're not planning on getting wine drunk tonight," Emily said. "I don't need a reason to die tonight."

"Don't worry, I have a high tolerance," Hailey said, reaching for Emily's hand again. "Now let's go watch some basketball."

Just as they were about to leave, Alison entered the dining room, her husband behind her. She and Emily hadn't seen each other since Valentine's Day, but exchanged texts frequently throughout the day. Alison seemed a bit caught off guard, and immediately looked at she and Hailey's hands.

"Emily! I wondered if I would be seeing you here," Elliot spoke up, stepping forward to hug Emily tightly. "Who's this that you brought?"

"Oh, this is Hailey," Emily said, feeling a little awkward as she felt Alison's expressionless eyes on her. "She's...uh, we met through Toby and Spencer."

"I didn't realize you had a girlfriend!" Rollins said, causing Alison to frown next to him. "I'm Elliot Rollins, but you can call me Rollins. This is my wife Alison, it's nice to meet you Hailey."

"And you! Are you keeping up with March Madness?" Hailey asked.

"Somewhat, I'm more of a football fan myself. Diehard Eagles fan," Rollins smiled.

As Hailey and Rollins exchanged polite conversation, Emily glanced at Alison who was staring at Hailey. Her eyes were narrowed slightly, as if she was sizing up Hailey. Emily stood there awkwardly, waiting for the conversation to die down.

"Well, it was nice meeting you Hailey. I'm sure we'll see you in the living room," Elliot said. "I just needed another drink."

"Yes, such a pleasure," Ali spoke up. "I'm sure you'll see how amazing Emily is, in more ways than just her personality."

Emily's eyes widened, and snapped to Alison. She was smirking and moved away from the couple, heading towards the red wine which Hailey had just poured.

Emily entered the very large living room with Hailey in toe behind her. Barely any eyes turned to them, since most were trained on the last few minutes of the game. Emily spotted Hanna and Caleb amongst the people, Hanna talking to another girl on the side. She was one of those who wasn't really paying any attention to the game.

She quickly approached Hanna and wrapped her arms around her upper body. Hanna squealed, but soon realized who was hugging her.

"Emily!" Hanna said, standing up to hug her properly. "It's been too long!"

"I know! I'm almost done planning your bachelorette party by the way. It look likes the day will be late March so get ready," Emily said.

"I'm so excited! Whatever you planned will be great," Hanna said. "Who's your friend?"

"Oh, this is Hailey," Emily said. "She went to the Super Bowl with us."

"Got it! Well Hailey, I'm Hanna. Emily's best friend since first grade, so if you have any sort of beef with her just know that I'll be knocking on your door," Hanna said.

"No worries, I'll keep that in mind. I don't really like drama anyway," Hailey smiled, and sipped her wine.

Hanna offered them a spot on the couch that she was sitting on, and Emily sat next to Hailey on her left, with Hanna on Hailey's right. Emily felt a buzz her in pocket, and the audible text message tone sounded off over the room full of people. It was Alison's special text message tone, a sound that only emitted from her phone when Alison texted her.

She ignored it, not wanting to be rude. Whatever Alison sent her could wait, and she tried to get back into the conversation. It wasn't until a few minutes later when the same sound emitted from her phone, as she received another text from Alison.

Her phone had two notifications from Ali, as she expected. She unlocked her phone to look at them, and was shocked at what she saw.

 **Alison: Having a good time?**

 **Alison: Forget about me already?**

What did she mean? Typing a quick response, Emily looked around the living room. She noticed Alison sitting on armchair, her legs pulled to her chest as she scrolled on her phone.

 **Emily: Of course not, don't say that.**

She watched Alison read the notification, her mouth opening slightly in annoyance. She knew Alison was getting annoyed when she did that. She received another text, this one more fuming and using slightly vulgar language.

Emily didn't respond this time, but she let Alison knew she read it. She wasn't having sex with Hailey, but why did it matter to Alison? She and Alison weren't dating, and it wasn't Emily that Alison went home to everyday. It was Rollins, not Emily. She was being a bit hypocritical right now.

Ignoring Alison seemed to be the wrong decision, and Emily soon felt four more consecutive messages come through. Alison was convinced they were having sex, and sent her a few texts describing what about her body that Emily would be missing. Emily gulped dryly, her eyes flashing to Ali.

Emily wanted to roll her eyes, they weren't having sex! But I guess Alison didn't know that, and she was under the assumption that she and Hailey were dating. They sort of her, but it wasn't official. She could tell that Hailey wanted it to be though.

 **Emily: We'll talk about this later.**

She didn't get any more texts from Alison for the rest of the night, which she was glad about since Alison had quickly gotten her frustrated. That was probably her goal, but she didn't want Alison knowing especially.

At around ten, Emily wanted to leave the party. She could feel Alison shooting daggers, especially when Hailey would touch Emily's leg or bump into her. It was nice to have someone want to be with her, and not make it hush hush and behind the scenes. Yet, she couldn't stop thinking about the fact Alison was fuming at her.

The drive home with Hailey was relatively quiet, but in a good way. They listened to soft jazz on her radio, and Hailey spoke up when they were nearing Emily's house.

"Was that the Alison?" Hailey asked.

"What do you mean?" Emily asked.

"Your first kiss, your first Valentine," Hailey said.

"Oh, yeah...she's quite something," Emily said.

"Yeah, she's really hot. Go you," Hailey laughed.

"I know," Emily said.

"Unfortunate that she's married, you missed out," Hailey said.

"Yeah I know," Emily said.

The car ride returned to silence, and it was a bit more uncomfortable than the previous silence. Hailey tapped her fingers on the steering wheel, and continued to do so until they pulled into Emily's driveway.

"Hey, it's a long ride home to your house. Just stay here tonight and you can drive back tomorrow," Emily said.

"Are you sure?" Hailey asked. "Your parents won't mind?"

"I don't think so, and it doesn't matter. I can have guests over if I want," Emily said. "Come on."

Hailey allowed herself to be guided by Emily into her house. She shushed Hailey, whose feet were noisy as they climbed the stairs to her room. She flickered on the light to her room and pulled Hailey in and closed the door behind her.

"Wow, nice room," Hailey said, looking around.

"It's basically a timestamp from five years ago, I never spent much time in here when I was in the army," Emily said. "Do you need pajamas?"

"Yeah, that would be preferable," Hailey said. "Leather pants are not usually comfortable to wear to bed."

"Right," Emily said, throwing cloth shorts and a tank top at Hailey, and grabbed a pair for herself.

Both girls stripped from their clothing and pulled on the pajamas, before crawling into Emily's bed. It was a cool night, so both girls were fairly cold. Emily tried to push aside the fact that she had practically destroyed Alison in the same bed a few weeks prior, and was glad her sheets had been through the wash.

They talked quietly, whispering in order to not wake up the rest of the house. Emily talked about her cousin Olivia, and how Alison's husband was the father. Hailey said it reminded her a bit of a reality TV show, and Emily had to agree on that.

They soon fell silent, and just looked at each other. Then, Hailey was kissing her. Emily was caught off guard, this was the only other person she had kissed besides Alison in the past five years. She hadn't even pursued anyone in the army either, afraid they would be gone the next day.

She kissed back nonetheless, she did feel something for Hailey afterall. It wasn't nearly as intense as what she felt for Alison, but there was something very attractive about Hailey. Hailey was a different kisser than Alison, her kisses went at a faster pace and didn't linger like Alison's. Emily could feel the breath being sucked from her lungs, she was good that was for sure.

They continued kissing, and Hailey made a move for Emily's cloth shorts. Her hand wrapped around the waistband, and Emily stopped.

"Are you okay?" Hailey asked, breaking the kiss. She was panting heavily, and her eyes were hungry in the moonlight.

"I can't do this," Emily said. And she couldn't. Even though Alison was not hers and vise versa, she couldn't bring herself to go through with having sex with someone else. She knew Alison would be mad if she did, but that wasn't it either. It was that Emily felt deeply connected to Alison, she only wanted Alison.

"Why? What's wrong?" Hailey asked, her eyes widening with worry.

"I'm so sorry, but there's someone else," Emily admitted, sitting up.

"Someone else?" Hailey asked.

"I've been seeing someone else, nothing official. But, it doesn't feel right doing this when," Emily said.

Hailey was silent for a moment, "Is it Alison?"

"What?"

"The girl you're seeing, it's Alison right?"

"How did you-?"

"I saw the way you look at each other at the party. It was pretty clear she wasn't just your first kiss," Hailey said.

"Well yes, it's Alison. She's married, but we've been having sex since December," Emily sighed.

"Do you love her?" Hailey asked.

"I think I do, which is stupid," Emily said.

"It's not stupid, I totally get it," Hailey said. "And I can tell she feels the same for you too."

"Really?"

"If she hasn't already said it. But that's fine, I get it," Hailey said. "I knew it was too good to be true."

"I'm so sorry Hailey," Emily said. "I really wish I could be with you like that."

"Really, don't worry about it. We'll just sleep, I'm exhausted anyway," Hailey said.

And with that, Hailey went to sleep. Emily stared at her form for a moment, did that just happen? She sighed and laid down as well, hoping she had made the right decision. She had a gut feeling, but she knew she was in love with Alison. She had felt the same feeling in high school, though not as strong. But this time it was coming back, more powerful than before. And she wasn't sure if she would make it out unharmed this time.

* * *

 **Delivered at 9:43am**

 **Alison: You fucking let her sleep over?**

 **Be sure to review it helps a lot :)**


	14. Chapter 14

Alison ignored her, even when Emily tried to explain. She knew that Alison was pissed, but she didn't even want to hear Emily out. She didn't even do anything with Hailey! Well...they did almost have sex, but she stopped herself. It didn't feel right, she knew that in the end it would always be Alison. But Alison didn't answer her texts, didn't return her calls, and Emily went to the furthest extent of having Olivia pass on the message.

"She said that what was going on between you and her was not appropriate for a student to be involved in, but appreciated the concern," Olivia said, after she got home from school. "What did you even do?"

"Nothing...I didn't do anything. She's just mad, don't worry about it," Emily said. "I'm sorry that I involved you."

A few days turned into almost two weeks, with no contact from Alison. She had Emily waiting by the phone, and the only messages she got were from Hanna, Aria, Spencer, or Hailey. As much as she liked to talk to them, Alison was the only notification that she would reply to the second it arrived.

The snow was melting away on the thirteenth of March, yet still a chilly cold. They were eating dinner in the dining room later than usual, since Olivia had stayed after school for tutoring. She was beginning to turn around, and the therapy she was receiving seemed to help her deal with the loss of her mother. Elliot still tried to stay in her life, and despite everything that happened, Emily was happy he was at least making an effort. It wouldn't be too much longer until her mom and dad would have officially adopted her.

"Christian and Jaden's funeral are this Saturday," Emily said, over their fairly quiet dinner. Emily hadn't been in much of a mood for talking. "It's at Arlington in DC."

"Who?" Olivia asked, as Pam and Wayne looked up from their dinner.

"Christian Foltz and Jaden Peterson. They were the two in my section who died when the building collapsed," Emily explained. "Christian's wife sent me the details last night."

Just the thought of the two brought a pain to her chest, it was dull and Emily shrugged uncomfortably. She hadn't stayed in touch with the others in her section who had also gotten caught up in the building when it fell. She knew that they were okay, and back in their hometowns, but that's all she knew. She assumed that all they knew about her was that she was okay as well. Maybe she would see them this weekend.

"Funeral? It's been four months, why haven't they been buried yet?" Pam asked, as she exchanged a nervous look with Wayne.

"I have no idea," Emily said, sipping her water as the pain in her chest tightened. She put down her fork, not feeling quite hungry anymore. In fact, she felt quite sick. "I really did not feel that it was my place to ask either. If anything, there was probably a complication with recovering their bodies."

"So, you're planning on going to DC?" Pam asked.

"Of course I am. Christian was a very close friend of mine especially, we all were a team. Jaden was like the big brother to us, and now they're both dead. It's the least I can do, and I know they would've done the same for me," Emily said, rubbing her chest in attempt to soothe the increasing pain that she felt. She had felt it earlier, not as badly. But now, it was returning.

"Are you going to go alone?" Wayne asked.

"I think I can do it on my own. I really don't need you guys to take a day off just for me. Besides, I'm in my twenties and even though I have a broken leg, I can still get around just fine. It's only for a day, maybe an overnight," Emily said, beginning to pant. "Okay, my chest honestly hurts so bad."

She felt like she was going to be sick, and yet she was winded at the same time. Why was she winded? From talking about her former squad members? She understood the chest pain, and the nausea, but why was she panting like a dog?

"Emily, are you okay?" Pam asked, standing up as Emily pushed back in her chair.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. I think talking about them just worked me up," Emily said, trying to stand up. There was a shooting pain in her chest, added on to the fact her chest was already in an intense amount of pain. "My chest just fucking hurts."

"Emily, you look awful and you're panting," Pam said, putting a hand on Emily's back. "You said the pain is in your chest? Is it staying in your chest?"

"Not really, it feels like there's a ton of bricks on it and now my jaw is starting to hurt," Emily said, pounding her chest with her fist in an attempt to relieve some sort of the pain.

"Have you been taking all of your medicine?" Wayne asked, standing up.

"Yes!" Emily shouted.

"Wayne, I think she's having a heart attack. Call 911," Pam said, looking up at her husband as Emily cried out in pain.

"What?! A heart attack! Pam she's not old enough to be having a heart attack!" Wayne yelled back, clearly panicked.

Emily felt Olivia's arm wrap around her, and help her sit up from where she was bent over.

"Just call for an ambulance already! Do you want your daughter to die?" Pam yelled.

"I'm not going to die! I'm not!" Emily yelled back, though it caused more pain in her chest as she continued to pant. She heard her father's footsteps thunder out of the kitchen, as her mom told her to try to control her breathing. She was feeling extremely dizzy, and her grip on Olivia's arm was loosening. The brightly lit room soon started to turn black, and in seconds she was on the floor.

* * *

Alison was just finishing up an episode of Chopped and was snuggling in bed at around eleven. She was still very angry that Emily had replaced her like that, especially with someone not nearly as good enough as her. She could've at least tried to find someone better. Things were still tense with her husband as well, who she had gotten in another row with over dry cleaning. _Dry cleaning!_ Of all things to get into a bitter argument about, not even the fact he was going through a six pack of beer every two days. The dry cleaning argument had left both of them in a sour mood, which made him consume even more. In Alison's opinion, the recycling man was probably the only other person concerned with Rollins alcohol consumption. He hadn't said anything about it, but he had most likely seen all the empty bottle and cans that he picked up from their house every other week.

She turned off her TV, her husband already asleep next to her. She sighed, despite being mad at Emily, she still preferred her sleeping next to her over her husband. Elliot snored...loudly, and he didn't like to cuddle because it made him too hot. Despite the fact, his arms didn't feel safe anymore.

Just as she was about to turn off the light next to her, her phone started vibrating from the bedside table. Frowning, she picked it up to see the caller ID. It was Spencer, which was strange. She barely got calls from Spencer in the daytime, why was she calling her so late? She let it ring a few more times, thinking maybe Spencer had called her on accident and would figure it out in a few seconds.

When her phone continued to ring, she finally picked up. If Spencer was calling her this late, she obviously had something important to say.

"Hey Spencer, I was just about to go to sleep. What's up?" Alison asked, trying to be quiet as to not wake up Rollins.

"Hey, have you been to the hospital yet to see Emily?" Spencer asked, her voice slightly panicked. "I'm in Santa Barbara on business, and Aria and Hanna haven't answered my calls."

"Emily's in the hospital?" Alison asked, sitting back up in bed.

"Yeah didn't you hear? Toby called me about twenty minutes ago, she had a heart attack during dinner," Spencer said. "I was just wondering if you had gotten out to see her yet."

"No! I had no idea that she had a heart attack, wait how did she have a heart attack?" Alison asked, springing out of bed. Her eyes snapped around her bedroom as she looked for her clothes from earlier that day. "She's young!"

"Toby didn't say why, I think the doctor was still checking over the results when he called. They were doing an electrocardiogram on her last he said," Spencer said. "Are you going there now?"

"Yeah, I'm leaving as soon as I can. I just need to change out of my pajamas," Alison said. "Thank you so much for calling me, I had no idea."

"No problem, keep me posted if you hear anything. I'm so stressed that I can't go see her right now," Spencer said, sighing deeply into the receiver.

"Don't worry, she'll be in good hands once I get to her," Alison said, pulling on her pants from earlier that day. "I'll talk to you later."

After hanging up with Spencer, Alison snapped her bra back on, along with her blouse from before. She left her hair in the braid she had put it in, and pulled on her boots. She tried to rouse Elliot to tell him where she was going, but he was a heavy sleeper and she didn't want to stick around long.

Although she was still pissed, she couldn't sit at home after hearing that Emily had a heart attack. A heart attack at such a young age? Maybe it had to due with her leg, though Alison was no medical expert. Nonetheless, Alison was hurrying into her car and speeding to the hospital to see Emily. Even if she was mad, Emily still meant the world to her.

"Oh Emily," she said to herself. "What on Earth have you done?"

* * *

"I'm sorry miss," the nurse at the front desk said. "Miss Fields is only receiving family members at the moment."

Alison did not need this, she needed to see Emily. She huffed angrily, "I'll have you know that _Miss_ Fields is my wife, and I am the other _Mrs._ Fields."

She held up her left hand to display to the nurse. Though it was the engagement ring and wedding band from Rollins, she figured it would help aid her in her white lie to get into Emily's room.

It seemed to be enough for the nurse, who typed away on her computer in a hurry.

"She's in room 23," the nurse said.

That was all Alison needed, as she raced down the hall in search for 23. She knew Emily's family would be with her, but she needed to make sure that Emily was okay. A heart attack that young was strange, and Emily could've died.

She approached room 23 in a hurry, and knocked politely on the door, though she was extremely antsy inside. It took a few seconds for someone to answer the door, and a doctor holding a clipboard excused himself past Alison. Pam exited the room next, looking surprised to see Alison.

"Ali!" Pam said, closing the door behind her. "I had no idea that you were going to come."

"I didn't either, I just learned about what happened twenty minutes ago from Spencer," Alison admitted. "I hope that you don't mind I'm here. I just wanted to make sure that Emily was okay."

"Well, the doctor did some tests on her and it looks like she's going to be just fine in a few days. She's going to need to take it easy, but it doesn't look like she's going to have any future heart problems," Pam explained.

Alison sighed in relief, "Thank God. I was so nervous. How did this even happen anyway? She's so young, that doesn't usually-"

"The doctor said it was due to a blood clot, most likely coming from her broken leg," Pam sighed.

"Blood clot? Was Emily not taking all of her medication?" Alison asked.

"Well, we found out tonight that Emily's been failing to take any of her blood thinning medication. Of all things not to take," Pam said, rubbing her forehead. "She had her prescription filled back in January by Dr. Kingston, but hadn't been taking it at all."

Alison sighed in disbelief, "She is so stupid," Alison said, voicing her thoughts.

"If you want to go in and see her you can. She woke up about an hour ago now, but she's been in and out now...still Emily though. They really can't knock the spirit out of her," Pam said. "Now if you excuse me Alison, I'm going to get a coffee down in the cafe. It's been a long night."

"That's no problem at all Mrs. Fields," Alison said. "I guess I'll just head on in."

Pam turned and walked down the hallway, leaving Alison to enter the hospital room. When she opened the door, she saw two figures standing over Emily's bed. There was a man and a woman, and at first Alison thought the woman was Olivia. But this was definitely not Oliva, and both turned to look at Alison as she closed the door behind her.

"Alison! It's good to see you!" Wayne said, leaving Emily's bedside as he crossed the room to hug her. "Emily's sleeping right now, but I'm sure she'll wake up in a little bit."

"It's good to see you too, is she doing okay?" Alison asked, hugging Wayne back.

"She's hanging in there. I swear, it's those Fields' genes," Wayne chuckled, pulling back to stand in front of her. "We dropped Olivia off at a friend's house so she could try to get a decent sleep for your class tomorrow."

"Oh believe me, I will not be fully awake for my classes tomorrow either at this point," Alison chuckled, turning her attention to the other person standing next to Emily's sleeping form.

"Hi again," Hailey said, waving casually. "I see you got the call too."

"Ah! I see you've already met. That's great, it saves me the introduction," Wayne said. "If you guys don't mind, I'm going to sneak away and grab some coffee with Pam. I just wanted to make sure that Emily was in good hands before I left."

"No worries, I'm sure Emily will be perfectly fine," Hailey said.

Once Wayne left, Alison turned back to Hailey, "Did Spencer call you?"

"Actually Toby did, a few hours ago when it happened. I guess word spreads quickly in your town. I just got here twenty minutes ago, she just fell back asleep," Hailey said. "She definitely is a tough one."

"Well she survived a building collapsing on her, so of course she's tough," Alison said cooly, admiring Emily's sleeping form. Alison was glad to hear the heartbeat monitor going at a fairly normal heart rate.

"Emily says that you guys have known each other for a while," Hailey said, making an attempt at a conversation with Alison.

"Yeah, since first grade," Alison said.

"I'm sure you guys have a lot of history then," Hailey said.

"We do," Alison agreed, nodding and keeping her voice firm.

"Right, well I just wanted to make sure she was okay. I already talked to her, so I really don't need a reason to stick around. I'm sure you want some alone time with her anyway," Hailey said, picking up her purse and hoisting it on her arm. "I have a pretty long drive anyway."

"You drove all the way out here to make sure she was okay?" Alison asked.

"Yeah, it's just something I do. I would've stayed up worrying about her if I hadn't come," Hailey said, walking towards the hospital door. "It was nice to see you again, Alison."

"You too," Alison said, blandly.

Hailey turned the knob, but stopped and turned back around, "Hey, I know it's not really any of my business, but Emily really misses you. I know you guys have something going on between you two or whatever, but I really think you should know that we're not dating. You don't have to worry about me getting in between you guys."

Alison stood there for a second, trying to think of what to say. If they weren't dating, why did she sleep over? Did she say she lived far away? How late was it when they left the party?

"Thanks, I guess," Alison said. "You're not family though, how did you get the nurses to let you in?"

"I said I was her cousin, you?" Hailey asked.

"I said I was her wife."

Hailey left without another word, and Alison moved to sit on the edge of Emily's hospital bed. Emily's face looked drained, though at least she was resting now. She thought about what Hailey said, about how they weren't dating, and how Hailey knew of she and Emily's affair. Emily must've told her, which did slightly irk her since now someone knew about it. But, hopefully Hailey wasn't the type to spread drama to Spencer and Toby, and she didn't seem like it.

She sat next to Emily for another ten minutes, when Emily began to stir next to her. Alison's heart jumped as Emily's eyes began to flicker open, the anger she had for Emily was dissipating.

"Ali?" Emily asked, upon recognizing it was Alison standing over her.

"You are such a fucking idiot," Alison said, though she was smiling slightly.

"I'm so sorry," Emily said, a hand reaching out to rest on top of Alison's.

"For what?" Alison asked. "You're the one who could've died. Do you know what would've happened if that blood clot had happened in your brain or your lungs? You would be dead right now."

"I know, I'm so stupid," Emily said. "I should've taken the medicine."

Alison felt tears stinging her eyes, she ever only seemed to cry when it involved Emily. "I could've lost you!" Alison said, wiping the threatening tears from her eyes. "Do you know how shitty it would've been to have to visit you at a fucking gravestone?"

"I know, I didn't want to take the blood thinner because I was the excessive bleeding if I ever got hurt," Emily said. "It was stupid of me I know, but I'm here now."

"Don't you _ever_ scare me like that again Emily Fields," Alison said, quickly bending down to quickly kiss Emily twice. "You could've left me."

"I'm not going anywhere," Emily said. "And I promise I'll take the blood thinner."

"You better," Alison said. "I need you in my life, you're a necessity at this point."

"Listen Ali, about Hailey. We really a-" Emily began.

"I know, she told me," Alison said.

"What did she say?" Emily asked, questionably.

"That you aren't dating. And I believe her, both of you. Though, I can tell she does want to be with you like that," Alison said. "Too bad you're all for me."

"But you're not all for me," Emily pointed out.

"Soon Emily," Alison said, tracing a pattern into the back of Emily's hands as she held them. "But, I'm practically yours already. You're the only one who's touched me in months."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Emily asked, as Alison kissed her cheek sweetly.

"Mmm, a little bit," Alison mumbled against her ear.

"So listen, I have to go to a joint funeral on Saturday down in DC," Emily began, causing Alison to sit back up.

"Are you asking me to come with you and be your moral support slash fake wife?" Alison asked.

"No...well yes, my parents are never going to let me go alone after this, but not to the second part. I will not be introducing you as my wife," Emily said.

"I already said I was your wife in order to get in here," Alison laughed mildly. "But yes, I will definitely accompany you there if that is what you want. I'll follow you anywhere."

"I knew you would," Emily said, tugging on Alison's hands to pull her down for another kiss. "Does this mean I'm forgiven?"

Alison didn't answer, and instead bent down to kiss Emily's full bottom lip. Kissing Emily never got old, especially the soft and gentle kisses that they shared.

"I'm assuming that's a yes," Emily said, when Alison broke away. "I'm sorry again, by the way."

"What for?" Alison asked, stroking the stray hair out of Emily's face and behind her ear.

"Because now I can't be sexually active for like two weeks," Emily said. "Don't want another heart attack now do we."

"If it means that you'll stay alive, I'll be okay with not having sex with you for two weeks," Alison said, laughing as she stroked Emily's hair. "Though it will be _really_ hard. And, I'll most likely be a horny rabbit by the end of this."

"Even better," Emily laughed. "Thank you for everything."

"You're my person, Emily," Alison said, sincerely as she smiled down at Emily. "We're supposed to be here for each other."

* * *

Emily was recovering. Already three days since she had her heart attack, she was on a train to Washington DC. Alison was sitting next to her on the train, an arm linked with Emily's as she rested her head on her shoulder. They had been on the train since eight AM, and would be arriving in DC at 10:30 in the next ten minutes.

The joint funeral started at 11:30, the meeting point being on Memorial Avenue, a few blocks from the cemetery. Christian and Jaden would be buried next to each other in Section 60 of Arlington Cemetery, a cemetery dedicated to the fallen heros of America's military. Alison had kept her eye on Emily, who didn't talk much and held Alison's hand tightly through her white gloved hand. She was wearing the class A formal wear of the US Army, which consisted of a navy blue coat and royal blue pants. She had a hat on her head, and various pins and badges were on her coat. They detailed what rank she was, how long she had been overseas, that she was a combat medic, and that she was wounded at war. Alison noticed the new badge added to array of pins and badges on her coat. The purple heart badge, which Emily was given a few months ago to symbolize the fact she had been wounded while serving. She and the other members in the building were awarded the purple heart, and this would be Emily's first time seeing them since the day it happened.

Alison rubbed her hand soothingly on the top of Emily's and kissed her shoulder. Emily's hand tightened in hers, squeezing it to let Alison know she was doing okay.

They arrived at the train station at 10:30 like expected, and Emily followed Alison silently from the passenger car and onto the platform that the train was stationed in. Alison held her hand firmly as they walked through the station. Although she wouldn't have done it back home in Rosewood, no one here knew any better and Emily needed the extra moral support. After all, Emily had voiced to she and Cece that it was her fault that Christian died.

Emily barely said anything as they got in a car to Memorial Avenue. In fact, one of the only things that Alison remembered that Emily had said to her today was that she looked beautiful. Alison was wearing a black dress with long sleeves that went down to her knees. It was simple and plain, and Alison wore a black pea coat over it, but to Emily she looked beautiful.

Alison spotted the two shiny black hearses before Emily did, as the car they were in pulled alongside of the already waiting guests on Memorial Avenue. There were about fifty people there already, some talking to other, and some shivering in the cool March air. Emily sighed heavily next to her, and Alison knew that Emily was going to have to maintain her composure throughout the entire service.

Emily exited the car first, and thanked the driver. She held the door open for Alison, who got out shortly after. She held her arm out of Alison, who slid her hand inside as they approached the others.

Alison spotted about a dozen more people wearing the same formal army attire that Emily was, a few talking to each other while others stayed silent. Alison remained quiet and followed Emily towards a man wearing the same outfit as Emily. He was taller by about five inches, and had smile lines despite his young age. On his uniform there was a pin that read "FUHRMAN", and his pale face was covered in freckles.

"Little worse for wear, are we Fields?" he said, smiling as he recognized Emily.

"Ryan! Did you just get here?" Emily asked, instantly lighting up as she hugged him tightly. He hugged her with a firm grip as well, and Alison watched as he closed his eyes when he hugged her.

"The rest of us flew in yesterday, and we go back out on Monday," he said. "It's pretty hellish out there."

"I can imagine," Emily said, releasing him from the hug. "I guess it's good to be back for a few days then."

"It's definitely better than being in dry heat," he said, his eyes flickering to Alison. "Who's this you brought here? Girlfriend?"

"Uh, actually we're just friends. Ryan this is Alison, we're childhood friends. And Alison, this is Ryan. He was in my squad," Emily said, as Ryan extended a gloved hand to shake Alison's.

"You're lucky to have a friend like Emily," Ryan said, making his smile lines next to his eyes visible. "She's the kind of friend who'll give you her Skittles from her Meal Ready to Eat."

"It's only because Skittles were your favorite candy and I don't like Skittles," Emily said. "Listen, I'm going to find Greg and Danielle, I'll see you again soon."

"10-4 Fields, I still miss your extra Skittles," Ryan said, winking before leaving them. "I have to get ready to do my pallbearer duties."

Emily tugged on Alison's arm, guiding her down the street that they were standing on. Alison shivered in her coat, and could only imagine how Emily felt since she wasn't wearing a wool coat like Alison.

Twenty minutes later, the hearses began to move down Memorial Avenue at a slow pace. The guests followed behind the two funeral cars, and passersby turned to watch the funeral procession. Alison had never been in a funeral like this, she'd never been in a military one before.

"How are you doing, hun?" Alison asked, rubbing Emily's arm.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me," Emily said, looking at Alison and giving her a sad smile. "I'm really glad you're here for me."

"Anything to help you get through," Alison said, as they continued to walk behind the two black cars.

"You're sure Elliot was okay with this?" Emily asked, as Alison adjusted her hand in the loop of Emily's arm.

"Yeah, he was totally okay with it. Besides, he was taking Olivia out for something. He won't miss me," Alison said.

They walked the street to the cemetery, and entered the front gates of the famous Arlington National Cemetery. It was a few minutes walk to Section 60, where both Christian and Jaden would be buried.

The white clouds in the sky didn't match the mood of the funeral, as the hearses came to a stop in front of Section 60. Identical white gravestones went on for row after row, and Alison could see two freshly dug spots with a tarp over top of it.

The pallbearers who were following behind the caskets in the same uniform as Emily, moved to the back end of both hearses. The pallbearers were the members of the military who transported the coffins to their final resting places, and participated in a few other customary events during the service. The men and women who made up the pallbearers were members of the squad that Emily served in along with Christian and Jaden. Emily and the other two who were injured in the building collapse were not pallbearers due to the fact they were injured. If she hadn't broken her leg in the building collapse, she would probably be up there too.

The guests were asked to move towards the two freshly dug gravesites, and Alison could feel Emily stiffen next to her. She had been holding back her emotions for the entire time, and Alison could only wonder when she would begin to break down over her two close friends.

There were cushioned chairs in front of each gravesite, for family members exclusively. Two white gravestones were freshly placed, and looked identical to every other gravestone in Section 60. Alison looked at the two photos on a stand in front of each gravestone. The man in each photo was had an American flag background, and was wearing their uniform.

The first man had a pearly white smile, and had a scar on his left cheek. He had short black hair, and tan skin like Emily's. He looked fairly young, yet older than both Alison and Emily, maybe in his late twenties. Under the photo, Alison looked at the name on the gravestone. It read, "CHRISTIAN JARRETT FOLTZ, SGT US ARMY, AFGHANISTAN WAR, IRAQ, DECEMBER 12th 1988 - NOVEMBER 2nd 2017, PURPLE HEART."

This was the man Emily was trying to save before the building collapsed. He had gotten shot in his hip and was bleeding out. Alison looked at the family members occupying the chairs in front of his gravesite. In the front row was young woman holding a young boy. Despite the fact the woman was tearing up, the two-year-old boy in her arms was smiling and drooling a little bit. He looked strikingly like Christian, and it didn't take long for Alison to put the pieces together. This must be Christian's wife and son. She remembered Emily mentioning their names, Juliette and Donovan. His wife had bright red hair, and pale skin that had only a few freckles. She was holding their son firmly, and trying not to cry as Donovan played with her hair. Alison's heart ached for her, and didn't even want to imagine having to raise she and Emily's child without Emily being there. Wait...what?

Behind Christian's wife and son was his mother and father, or so Alison assumed. They had similar looks to him, and his father was sobbing loudly into a tissue.

Next to Christian's gravestone was Jaden's, who was strikingly handsome in his photo. He had a lopsided grin, and sandy brown hair. He reminded Alison of those guys you would make constant eye contact with at bars, but would never talk to. On his headstone it read, "JADEN COLLIN PETERSON, SSGT US ARMY, AFGHANISTAN WAR, IRAQ, MARCH 3rd 1984 - NOVEMBER 2nd 2017, PURPLE HEART."

Alison saw what she assumed to be a wife and two children. An older daughter who looked about eight, and a younger son who looked five. The daughter was solemn faced, already witnessing so much sadness in her eight years of life. Her brother didn't seem to understand what was going on, or that he would never see his dad again.

The pallbearers began pulling the caskets out of their hearses, and standing next to Alison, Emily raised her right hand to her hat and saluted. Alison didn't really know much about the military, but assumed that it was customary for them to salute. She looked around and noticed that other military members were also saluting, as the pallbearers began walking towards the final resting place of Emily's fallen squad members.

Alison noticed a woman in the crowd of people, dressed as Emily with her right arm completely gone. She was the only one who wasn't saluting, as she was physically unable to do so. Another man in the crowd in uniform was in a wheelchair, but still saluting and keeping a firm face.

The two coffins approached their gravesites, both coffins had an American flag draped over it. The pallbearers approached the racks that would hold the coffins above ground while they were given their final prayers and respects. When they were done, the flag on top of each casket was held up by the pallbearers and rested overtop both coffins.

"Come on, let's sit," Emily said, after she and the others had let their right arms fall to their sides.

Alison followed Emily silently, and in the third row of Christian's side seats. Standing behind the chaplain of the mass was an older man with many more badges and pins than Emily did on his suit. Just by the way he looked, Alison could tell her was an officer.

"Is that your commanding officer?" Alison whispered, as the chaplin prepared to start the service.

"Yeah, that's Officer Montana," Emily whispered, her breath hot on Alison's ear. She held Alison's hand tightly, with a very firm grip. Alison could tell she was slowly breaking.

During the service, Alison constantly looked at Emily to make sure she was okay. She knew that Emily was going to have to keep her composure, but she swore she saw tears threatening her eyes at one point when Officer Montana gave a small speech about both Christian and Jadne, and their passion for their country.

They all rose again as the officer signaled for the three-volley salute. Seven men stood on a hill a ways from the grave site, all holding rifles. They raised their rifles and fired three blanks as a sign of respect for both Christian and Jaden. Emily had raised her arm into a salute once again, and this time Alison saw a solitary tear roll down her cheek. It dripped off her jaw and fell onto the dark blue suit jacket she was wearing, and Alison knew how much it must hurt her inside. These were her close friends, those she had tried to save during warfare. They spent countless days and nights together through thick and thin, and now she was watching them be buried.

Immediately following the three-volley salute was the infamous "Taps" song played on the trumpet by a single player. It was a sad and short tune, that Alison had only heard during her school's Memorial Day ceremony. To hear it in a context like this really moved her.

When the song finished, Emily let her hand drop to her side and they all sat down. The flags that had been hovering over both coffins were folded by the pallbearers. Each flag was folded into a triangle and both given to Officer Montana. He presented each flag to both Christian and Jaden's family. He knelt down and gave Jaden's daughter the flag, but she was crying uncontrollably. As for Christian, he gave his wife the flag, who was holding her son.

It wasn't much longer until the service was over, and Alison followed Emily so that she could extend her condolences to both families.

Emily wrapped Juliette in a hug, and Juliette cried into her shoulder.

"Juliette, I'm so sorry that I couldn't save him," Alison could hear Emily say. "I tried my hardest to make sure that-"

"You did everything that you could do, Emily," Juliette said. "That's all that I could ever ask for from you. I'm sure Christian is proud."

Alison stood a few feet back, and watched as Emily broke free from their hug. She smiled, and played peek-a-boo with Donovan for a few seconds before moving on. Alison watched Emily handle everything with such control and ease. She hugged each of the squad members who were not injured in the building collapse, and reunited with both Danielle, who had lost her right arm in the collapse, as well as Greg. Greg was paralyzed from the waist down, making Emily the one who got the least hurt in the building collapse.

After a few more minutes of exchanging her condolences, Emily flashed Alison a pained look. She looked mentally exhausted, and Alison could see more tears threatening to roll down her cheeks. She took this as a sign that it was their time to leave, and reached for Emily's hand.

Emily said goodbye to everyone as she left, saying that she needed some air. Alison held onto her tightly, trying to get across any support that she could to prevent Emily from breaking down just yet.

They slowly walked away from the gravesites, arm in arm as they descended the hill towards the paved road that would lead them to the exit. She could hear Emily sniffling next to her, and didn't dare ask her how she was. She already knew.

They were out on the street, when Emily finally tugged her to a stop. They were standing under a cherry blossom tree, which was just starting to bud.

"What is it?" Alison asked, turning to Emily. She saw tears rolling down her cheeks, and Emily wiped them away quickly.

"I just wanted to thank you, for everything," she said, looking sincerely at Alison.

"Of course, Em. Anything for you," Alison said.

"You know without you, life would probably be way shittier having to deal with what happened out there," Emily said, wiping away at the new tears threatening to leave her eyes. "And I just wanted to say thank you."

"Emily, you are one of the strongest people I have ever met in my life. I admire you so much," Alison said, cupping Emily's neck. "I am _so_ proud of you."

Emily began sobbing slightly, unable to hold the tears and sadness back anymore. Alison immediately pulled Emily into a hug, squeezing her tight as Emily sobbed into her shoulder.

"I love you," Alison said, as she continued to hold Emily. "I love you more than anyone else in the world."

* * *

 **Ah! So now I have a lot more time to write! Frequent updates for everyone!**

Tell me what you think in the reviews, the more reviews the more I can update! :)


	15. Chapter 15

It took Emily a few moments to register what Alison had told her. Alison loved her? The Alison DiLaurentis who was the hierarchy when they were in grade school and her first kiss, told Emily that she loved her. She must've said it to make her feel better, after all Emily was crying over the death of two of her close friends.

She hugged Alison tighter, and tried to swallow her tears. They were rolling down her cheeks at a fast rate, happiness was flooding her sadness. She wanted to throw up, it made her nauseous. She wiped the tears from her face with her gloved hand, but couldn't stop crying. Alison hugged her tighter, and rubbed her back with one of her hands.

When all the tears that Emily had pent up began to subside, she wiped her face with her hand one last time before pulling away from Alison's embrace. They stayed wrapped together, but looked at each other.

"Are you okay?" Alison asked, her blue eyes filled with worry.

"Yeah," Emily nodded. "I think I just needed to get all of that out."

"There's nothing wrong with that," Alison said, smiling slightly.

"I just want to go home," Emily sighed, and sniffled slightly.

* * *

Alison arrived at her house after the sun had set. There was only one light on from what she could tell in the living room, but noticed her husband's car parked in its spot on the driveway. She parked in her own spot, and got out. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, though it was odd that her husband had only kept one light on. He was notorious for leaving lights on, which was one of Alison's pet peeves.

She unlocked her front door, and immediately turned on the hall light. Yellow light lit up the large house in an instant, and part of her still was expecting to see Pepe come around the corner to greet her. She shrugged the feeling off, and took off her shoes.

"Rollins!" she called into the silent house, the only the audible thing that could be heard was the faint sound of the TV.

He didn't answer her, and she frowned as she took off her coat and hung it up. She figured he was in the living room, maybe he hadn't heard her? She had been pretty loud though. Alison was drained from the trip to Washington DC and back, and emotionally drained from seeing Emily crack and crumble as she was overcome with emotion. Emily was one of the strongest people Alison knew, and to see even her break like that pained Alison.

She meant it when she said she loved her, and was a little taken aback when Emily hadn't even acknowledged it. She didn't blame her too much however, a lot was going on when Alison said it. Maybe saying it then wasn't the best moment…too late now.

Alison walked down the hallway of she and Elliot's home, and entered the living room. The large TV was on, SportsCenter was playing in the dimly lit room. Her husband was sitting on the couch, his back to her and slumped down. Alison walked around the sofa to see a six pack on the coffee table, or what was left of it. The plastic that kept the cans together was on the table, and five empty cans were sitting in a line next to each other. Alison sighed, and finally looked at her husband.

She found the sixth can of beer, which he was holding in his hand. His eyes were closed, and his mouth was agape slightly. He let out a soft snore, and his hand tightened on the can he was holding. He had drunk six cans of beer alone and in one sitting.

Alison placed a hand on his arm, and lightly shook him awake. He jumped slightly, and was startled awake. He glared up at Alison, his eyes only softening slightly when he realized who it was.

"Hey, I'm home," Alison said, sitting down on the couch next to him.

"I can see that," he replied, and drank another sip of his beer.

"Have you had anything for dinner?" Alison asked, seeing no food in sight with the beer.

"No, you know I'm an awful cook," Rollins replied, and placed the sixth can of beer in the line with the others.

Alison sighed, "You could've ordered something," she said, her voice drowned out by a loud burp. "How was the museum with Olivia?"

"It was fine, until we got into a fight on the way home," he sighed, and massaged his forehead. "Do you know if we have anymore Advil?"

"Wait, you guys got in a fight?" Alison asked, disregarding his question.

"Over her mom," he said.

"What happened?" Alison asked, as Elliot stood up from the sofa.

"Look, I really don't want to get into the details right now. I'm tired," he said, and exited the living room.

Alison stared after him for a few moments, and began collecting the empty beer cans. How on earth did he consume this much? She recycled the cans and noticed there was an empty bottle of wine that was half full the previous night, had he drunk that too?

She sighed and climbed the stairs to the bedroom. He was inside, changing into his pajamas when Alison entered.

"Honey, how much did you drink tonight?" Alison asked quietly, watching as he struggled to pull his pants on.

"I'm fine," he said, waving her off. "Can't this just wait until tomorrow?"

"Elliot, you and I both know that you are drinking _way_ too much. You just drank a six pack by yourself, and you drank the wine too?" Alison said, as Elliot sat on the bed. "And don't say it wasn't you because I opened that bottle last night."

"Can you shut the fuck up?!" Rollins asked. "This was one time! I'm kind of upset about earlier, I got in a fight with my daughter and she probably doesn't even want to see me again!"

"Do not tell me to shut the fuck up," Alison said, her voice seething. "You need to wake up and realize that you have a serious problem. This is why Gordon doesn't want to spend time with you outside of the office anymore."

"It's because his wife just had another kid!" Rollins argued. "And my drinking has nothing to do with my relationships with my friends."

"The only people you hang out with nowadays are the guys who drink as much as you do!" Alison said.

"Shut up! _Shut up!_ Honestly, no one gives a shit except you," Elliot said, pointing a finger tauntingly at Alison.

"Elliot, I care about you very much. I can't let you just drink away everything," Alison said. "Now what happened with Olivia?"

"Well, maybe if I had more of a support from you I would be ok. You barely have talked to me since like November! You shut me out, you don't even love me anymore!" Elliot said, standing up to face Alison. "Can we talk about what happened tomorrow?"

"What are you talking about? Of course I love you! You're my husband," Alison argued.

"You do, I know you love me," Elliot said, his voice quieting. "But you don't love me like you used to, at least not anymore."

Alison didn't argue, she wish she could. As much as Elliot was wrong sometimes, he was right about things too. Of course she loved him, they had been in each other's lives for a few years now and had grown together in those years...but it was true.

She loved him, but she wasn't in love with him. Not anymore.

* * *

Emily was typing away an email to confirm that the bachelorette party reservations that would be taking place in a few days in New York City. She had planned a pretty eventful overnight for the four of them, and hoped Hanna would enjoy the getaway trip. Hanna knew of the event, but had no idea what was going to happen. She didn't even know that they were going to New York! Emily smiled as she typed the email, she couldn't wait to see the excitement on her best friend's face.

Both Aria and Spencer also chipped in with some of the expenses, even though Emily insisted that they don't. Aria spoke up as they both were writing checks that it was because they wanted the luxury suite at the hotel and not just the average hotel room.

She had just finished typing the email and hit send, when her phone rang from where it rested on the couch next to her. It was early in the morning, and no one usually called her at nine AM. It was a number she didn't recognize, and almost ignored the call entirely. Right as it was about to go to voicemail, she decided to pick up.

"Hello?" Emily answered, her voice still raspy from not speaking yet that morning.

"Hi! I'm calling for Sergeant Emily Fields," a woman said cheerfully on the other end.

 _Oh shit,_ Emily thought. Was the army calling her to check up on her progress and talk about having her go back? She totally had forgotten about the fact that she was going to have to go back, and leave Alison. It wasn't an issue before, but now she was very emotionally attached to Alison. What if she left and came back to Alison wanting nothing to do with her? And being pregnant with his child?

"H-Hi, yes. This is she," Emily stuttered, getting caught off guard by her thoughts.

"Excellent! My name is Georgia O'Donnelly of the No Dog Gets Left Behind organization, I was just wondering if you had a few moments of your time," Georgia said, and Emily almost sighed in relief.

"I think I've heard of that organization…" Emily said, opening a tab on her computer to search it.

"We're dedicated to reuniting dogs of war with their beloved soldiers," Georgia said, before Emily could finish typing in their name. "One of your squad members mentioned that you were close with one of the strays in Afghanistan."

"You guys have Peanut?" Emily asked, pushing her laptop to the side and sitting up. A large smile spread across her face as she remembered her beloved stray dog back in Afghanistan.

"Well, yes and no. He's currently still back in Afghanistan and still residing near the camp you were in. The other soldiers have been feeding him in your absence, and we want to send him to the United States to join your family," Georgia said. "That is, if you would like for him to."

"Oh my God, that would be awesome!" Emily laughed. "I've missed him so much."

"I'm sure he misses you too! Of course, this process will take a few weeks, so the earliest he will be able to rejoin you is in mid April. We'll email you all of the details including his flight information when the time comes," Georgia said.

"That's amazing! I'm so excited to see him again!" Emily smiled, as she opened a new email from the organization.

Attached was a few photos of the dog she was taking care of in Afghanistan. He clearly had been a stray, and was skin and bones when Emily first saw him. He was a mix of many dog breeds and Emily couldn't distinguish what kind of dog he was. He had tan fur, with a dark colored snout and dark fur around his eyes. His paws were white, and they looked kind of like gloves. To Emily, he looked a bit like a German Sheppard, with a lot of other dogs mixed in.

She was hanging around the camp like all of the strays did, since the soldiers would feed them food scraps from their meals. A skinny dog had approached her boldly, yet cowered down as she ate some of her peanut butter.

Emily never had a dog, so she didn't know what it was like to take care of one. She felt bad for the dog, especially because of visible ribs she saw through the skin. She began feeding him peanut butter, the rest of the peanut butter in the small container she had.

This peanut butter feeding turned into a daily thing, and the dog returned everyday for some peanut butter. Emily gladly gave up her peanut butter, and was happy to see that his ribs were becoming a lot less visible. His ears would perk up whenever Emily said the word "peanut" when referring to her peanut butter, and soon Emily decided that his name might as well be just that.

So Peanut joined Emily's life, and was one of the good things that came from the war. After the end of every long day, Peanut would be waiting for her in their spot so that Emily would feed him some of whatever she had. Peanut liked his stomach to be rubbed, and slept near Emily's cot.

Having him back in her life would be a blessing, since even though he was part of the war, he was one of the best things for her.

* * *

"Can you guys _please_ tell me where we're going?" Hanna asked, from the seat next to Emily.

They were in the car and travelling to New York City with four small suitcases and one unknowing bride-to-be. Spencer was driving them all, with Aria in the passenger seat giving her directions in a way that Hanna would be unable to know their destination. They had just hit the New Jersey border, and were about two hours from the city.

"You said you wanted it to be a surprise, so it'll be a surprise until you figure it out on your own," Emily smiled. "Or until we get there."

Hanna groaned and slumped down in the back seat, looking out the window as Aria changed the radio station. Emily pulled out her phone, and saw one new message from Alison that she hadn't viewed.

 **Ali: Hope you enjoy the trip! I'm sure Hanna will love what you planned for her! I'll see you tomorrow, I should be getting in at around 11am. But that's give or take traffic.**

Although they were going down to New York City for Hanna's bachelorette party, Emily would be staying back an extra day. Alison's book conference was the next day, and Emily wanted to stay and support Alison. Plus, if it meant she got a day with Alison exploring New York City alone, she was all for it.

 **Emily: Sounds good, keep me posted :)**

 **Ali: I want pictures from tonight of you!**

 **Emily: Will do ;)**

Hanna started figuring out where they were going once she started looking at the road signs that they passed. It was fairly obvious too, once they passed the "Welcome to New York" sign. Hanna perked up in her seat, and grabbed onto Aria's headrest which was in front of her. She turned to Emily, a happy grin spread on her face.

"No way!" Hanna said, reaching out to squeeze Emily's arm. "New York City?!"

"Yeah, I know how much you love to go," Emily said, as she and Spencer exchanged knowing glances in the rearview window of her car.

"Emily has an amazing night planned for us," Aria said, looking at her phone to tell Spencer to get off at the next exit.

"You are _the best_ , Emily," Hanna said. "Did Caleb know about this too?"

"Maybe," Emily said, teasingly.

* * *

They arrived at their hotel first, and had a few hours to change from casual clothing to something more dressy. Due to the money from both Aria and Spencer, Emily was able to rent one of the nicest suites in the hotel for a night...and even that was pricey. But, she wanted what was best for Hanna and hoped Hanna would do the same when it came to be time for her own wedding, if she ever had one.

The man behind the front desk was wearing an all black suit with a gold name tag pinned to his chest. He looked up from his computer as they four girls approached, all carrying their small suitcases.

"Uh, checking in under Emily Fields," Emily said, as he greeted them politely.

He typed quickly on the computer, and pulled four matte black room keys from under the desk.

"Floor 43, the Presidential Suite," he smiled, as he handed over the four room keys to Emily.

Emily took them from his hand, "Thanks," she nodded, before turning around to the other girls.

"This hotel is amazing!" Hanna whispered, as they began walking towards the elevator.

The hotel certainly was amazing, with the tall front entrance and the carmel colored marble flooring. There was a piano in the corner, which was playing soft music all on its own. In the center of the hotel was a waterfall, also made out of the same marble as the floors. As Emily looked around, she realized that she really did do well in planning Hanna's bachelorette party.

When they made it up to the room, there was a moment where all of them held their breath in anticipation for what the Presidential Suite looked like.

"Oh shit," Aria said, once Emily pushed open the door.

From their first impression, they were already blown away. There was a full kitchen on the left, and a flat screen with two couches on the right. Down a hallway was one king sized bedroom, and there was another king sized bed in another bedroom. It was a lot to take in, even the bathroom was luxurious.

"Alright ladies, who's rooming with who?" Spencer asked, as they entered the spacious living room.

"It doesn't matter to me," Aria said, looking around as she closed the handle of her suitcase. "Just as long as I'm not on a couch."

"Well, it looks like we'll be able to split two and two," Emily said, both beds were fairly large.

"How about, Emily and I are together, and you and Spencer can take the other room?" Hanna suggested, pointing to adjacent rooms. She then turned to Emily, "What time are the dinner reservations?"

"Uh, seven," Emily said, tearing her attention away from a very interesting painting of a sunset that was hanging in the hall they were standing in.

"Great, so that gives us about two hours to pregame and get ourselves looking bomb as fuck," Hanna said, clapping her hands together. "Sorry Em, I'm sure there's like Sangria flavored soda at a corner store around here. I've had it once, it tastes pretty legit."

"Don't worry about me, I'll be the designated cock blocker and decision maker of this evening," Emily said. "There's no way I'm letting any Manhattan asshole try to make a move."

"You can pretend to be our girlfriend if that happens!" Aria said, perking up.

"Yes, a polygamous female relationship," Spencer said. "I'm praying that my dress didn't wrinkle on the way here."

"There must be an iron around here somewhere, aren't they supposed to by law?" Hanna asked.

* * *

It was about 6:30 and close to the their departure of the hotel room and to their dinner reservation. They all had gotten ready in the course of an hour, and somehow made it work even though they only had one bathroom. Emily only felt slightly left out when she couldn't have any of the champagne they had opened, but knowing what Alison would say if she was drinking overpowered that feeling of being left out. With the medication she was on, accompanied by the fact she had a heart attack a mere two weeks ago...Emily didn't want to push her luck anymore than she had been already.

Emily was the last one to be finished getting ready. The last strand of hair was wrapped around the curling iron she borrowed from Spencer. It wasn't very often she got this dressed up, but Hanna's wedding was up and coming, meaning that she would be even more dressed up in about a month. Her black dress matched her black leg brace, which was a bit unsightly, but it would have to do. Hanna had already told her twice that Emily would find it more noticeable than anyone else. Emily sighed and took her word for it, and hoped the makeup and hair made up for the fact it looked like she had a bionic leg.

Before exiting the bathroom, Emily snapped a mirror pic and sent it to Alison, who was packing for her own trip to New York City where she would meet Emily the next day.

 **Alison: You are a literal goddess. Gorgeous.**

Emily smiled at Alison's text, before putting her phone away in her clutch, she had been keeping them waiting long enough.

The four girls, looking their best, exited the Presidential Suite and made their way to the streets of Manhattan. The restaurant was only a few blocks away, thankfully. Although it was late March, the night air was still cold and each of them was wrapped up in a jacket. That didn't prevent their bare legs to be hit with the cold air, so they walked rather quickly to the restaurant. Thankfully, Hanna had gone to college close by NYC and was the only reason that they didn't almost get lost.

Their night at the restaurant was uneventful yet full of laughter. They reminisced in the memories of them together back when they were small and full of innocence. Hanna snorted into her wine when Spencer mentioned how Caleb had been hooked on Hanna since preschool. Hanna and Caleb really were meant to be, but how could small children tell that? Truth be told, Hanna and Caleb didn't date at all in high school. Hanna was dating Travis for most of high school, and it wasn't until Caleb and Hanna reconnected during the summer of their sophomore year of college that everything clicked into place.

Their reconnection all happened while Emily was off in Afghanistan, and it was to her surprise when Hanna's usual letter was five extra pages long. She was happy that they were together, Caleb in high school had always been a nice guy who clearly had his eyes out for Hanna. She was glad they finally got together.

It wasn't until they were splitting a piece of cheesecake that Spencer brought up the time at senior prom where someone threw their panties at the DJ.

"You have to admit, that DJ was hot," Aria said, over their fit of laughter.

"I don't think he was hot enough to have panties thrown at," Emily said, remembering prom in a different way.

"How would you know Emily? You were flat out drunk for the majority of it," Hanna spoke up.

"Okay, I was only drunk because I had gotten in a fight with my prom date at the start of the dance," Emily spoke up in her defense. "For teens, alcohol fixed everything."

"Who was your prom date even?" Spencer asked.

"Paige McCullers," Emily said, rolling her eyes and scoffing at the name as she took a sip of her drink.

"That name brings a bad taste to my mouth," Spencer said. "What were you even fighting about anyway?"

Emily sighed, "Over the fact I couldn't stop 'eye-fucking' Alison DiLaurentis after seeing her in her dress."

Hanna snorted in laughter, "Oh my God, I so remember that."

"She was wearing a really pretty lilac dress," Aria pointed out. "Were you eye-fucking her though?"

"I mean, I was looking! I didn't think it was that bad!" Emily said defensively, though she knew that her eye-fucking had gotten worse the drunker she got.

 _Emily stumbled out of the venue that their prom was out. Things were a bit fuzzy, and her heels were not making it easy for her. The dance floor was hot, and Emily could feel herself starting to sweat a lot more than she had been planning on sweating that night._

 _She looked around the hall of the building, which was decorated with things that fit with their under the sea prom theme. It was a bit cooler in the hall than it was in the dance room, yet not enough for Emily._

 _Using the wall as support, she began making her way down the hall and towards the door that would lead to the outside. She probably just needed a few minutes to cool off, before going back in to party some more with her friends._

" _Woah, need a little help?" a voice asked, causing Emily to look to her left._

 _In order to get outside, you had to pass the bathrooms, and Alison DiLaurentis was standing just outside of the ladies' bathroom. She looked stunning, with a small smirk on her face and her hands on the hips of her light blue dress. Emily's mouth opened to answer, but no words came out as she looked Ali up and down._

" _Um, I was just about to go outside," Emily said, her drunk state of mind was making things a bit fuzzy, but she definitely would remember how attractive Alison looked in her dress._

" _Mind if I join you?" Alison asked, stepping forward and offering Emily an arm._

 _Emily wrapped her arm around hers gratefully, not trusting her feet with her balance. Alison helped guide her towards the exit door, and out into the cool June night. The sound of cicadas filled their ears, and the only light that aided in where they were going was from the street lights above._

" _God, my heels are killing me," Alison said, letting go of Emily's arm. She bent down slightly and began taking off her heels. "You might want to take off yours too, hot stuff. I can smell the alcohol from here, you don't want to take a tumble and sprain your ankle."_

" _You're right," Emily said, taking off her own heels. "I've never been a pro at walking in these things."_

" _Who needs them?" Alison asked rhetorically, and put them down by the door. "Want to take a walk with me and get all the booze out of your system?"_

" _Don't you have a date you should be getting back to?" Emily asked, enjoying this side of Alison that she always got to see when it was just the two of them. Alison was a bitch, but she was never to Emily. Even when they were in a group, Alison would never speak as harshly as she did to others. It made Emily feel special._

 _Alison shook her head, "No, he's too busy with his friends to notice me," Alison said. She had gone with Noel, who wore an all black tux with a light blue tie to match Alison's dress._

" _How could anyone not notice you?" Emily asked, the alcohol in her system making her a bit bolder._

" _You certainly have a way with words tonight," Alison smiled, as they walked under the streetlight. Emily could see a pink tinge on her cheek. "You should get drunk more often."_

" _I'm only drunk because my date is a total asshat," Emily sighed._

" _Paige right? Are you guys still dating?" Alison asked._

" _No, I told her that she was too jealous and that if she didn't trust me I didn't want to be with her," Emily said, shaking her head._

" _Well, I think it's good that you broke up," Alison said, rather straightforwardly._

" _Really?" Emily asked._

" _Like you said, she's an asshat. I couldn't help but hear your argument over how much you were staring at me in this dress," Alison teased, as they stopped in the darkness between two of the streetlights. Emily could barely make out Alison's face in the dark._

" _I'm really sorry, I shouldn't have been looking as much as I should've," Emily said, beginning to defend herself. "It's really disrespectful of-"_

" _You're apologizing? Em, don't apologize," Alison said, facing Emily. "You made me feel the most desired than I have felt in a long time."_

 _Emily felt warm hands reach out to take hold of hers, as she thought of what to say to Alison._

" _Alison, you're one of the most beautiful girls I've ever met," Emily admitted, thanks to the liquid courage. "It's funny to think how in a few months, we're going to be parting ways."_

" _Right, joining the army," Alison said. "You know, you seem more the type to head west."_

" _I want to help people," Emily said, preparing to recite the same mini speech to Alison that she had recited to everyone. "After seeing everything on the news, and what kind of terror that's been going on…"_

" _So you want to be a combat medic? Thrust into the war zone?" Alison asked quietly, tracing patterns on Emily's arm._

" _Y-Yeah," Emily said. "That's what I want."_

 _Alison sighed, "Well, I guess I can't stop you from going. Just, don't do anything stupid. I know you're out there being a hero by healing people, but don't let that get to your head. I don't want to go to your funeral in a few years."_

" _I won't. I'll come back each year in one piece, ok?" Emily promised, as the grip Alison had on her arm tightened._

" _It's been a hell of a journey knowing you Emily," Alison said, and Emily could hint the sadness in her voice._

" _Hey, I'm not dying," Emily cooed, reaching out to rub Alison's back soothingly._

" _I know you're not, but I don't know when I'll see you again or if I'll see you again. Things happen out there, and fate has a way of being a bitch," Alison said._

" _Don't say that. I promise I-" Emily began._

" _No," Alison said, cutting her off. "Don't promise that, you can't promise it. You don't know if you'll die or not."_

 _Emily sighed, not knowing what else to say. She continued to rub Alison's back soothingly._

" _Just...if this is the last time that we see each other properly, might as well give you something to remember me by," Alison said, letting out a breathy laugh._

 _Alison stepped forward, and placed a soft kiss on Emily's lips. Emily quickly reciprocated, unlike back when they were young and she knew nothing about kissing. This time, she was experienced and prepared. The hand that was on Alison's back quickly slide around her waist, and held Alison close to here._

 _Their kisses grew more heated, and both were letting out small gasps as they took a second to breath before diving right back in. The alcohol in Emily's system was still evident, and it became known that it was still present when she pulled Alison flush against her with a good amount of force. Her hands found their way from Alison's waist to her butt, and she squeezed roughly._

 _Alison let out a moan into Emily's mouth, egging her on. Emily detached their lips, and daringly began kissing her neck. Alison tangled her hands into Emily's straightened hair, and Emily couldn't care less that she had taken an hour to get it pin straight. Alison could do whatever she wanted with her hair._

 _Emily sucked harshly as Alison continued to say words of encouragement. Words that were turning Emily on way more than she ever had before. Maybe it was because of the alcohol, and maybe it really was because Alison really was one of the most gorgeous girls that Emily had ever met._

" _Fuck," Alison whispered. "Did you bring a car here?"_

" _Nope, limo," Emily said, between the kisses she planted behind Alison's ear._

" _Is it still here?" Alison asked._

" _I don't think so," Emily said, sucking hard on Alison's pulse point and biting down._

" _Shit, guess I'm just going to have to fuck you on the ground," Alison said, grabbing Emily harshly._

" _Emily!" someone yelled out into the night, the voice coming back from the party venue._

" _Dammit," Emily hissed, recognizing Aria's voice. "They're looking for me. We should go back."_

" _Damn, and now I'm going to be turned on for the rest of the night," Alison sighed. "Look at you Miss Fields, I didn't know you had that in you. You're always so shy."_

" _Bet you fantasized about finding out," Emily shot back teasingly._

" _Touche," Alison said. "Here, you go back first. I'll follow in a few minutes to it's not too obvious."_

" _Are you sure?" Emily asked._

" _Yes, it'll give me a few minutes to calm my hormones down," Alison laughed._

" _There's something to remember me by, by the way," Emily winked, glancing at the purpling spot on Alison's neck. "May we meet again Miss DiLaurentis."_

* * *

"Did you have the least enjoyable prom out of all of us because of that Paige thing?" Hanna asked.

"Oh yeah, totally," Emily lied. "Well, if we're all done here, Hanna's always been high key obsessed with going to a drag show. I thought we might as well check that off of our bucket list while we're here. Is everyone ready to head on to the best night of their lives?"

* * *

 **It's already almost been a year! And yet, Affair is still going... ;)**

 **Thank you all for the support, and be sure to leave a comment!**


	16. Chapter 16

Emily didn't know how she had allowed them to wander into a 24 hour tattoo shop at 1:32AM. She hadn't had anything alcoholic to drink, her mind was clear. Yet they were now standing in this shop while Hanna looked over various tattoos in a black leather book.

All of them were interested in getting a tattoo, even Spencer. But then again, Spencer had the most to drink out of all of them. Emily knew she should step in to intervene with their decision, but she didn't want to kill the vibe that they had going. Instead, she looked around the shop, which seemed like it was clean enough that they weren't going to get any sort of disease.

"Emily!" Hanna said, bringing the book towards her. "We should get best friend tattoos."

"Um, I don't know," Emily said wearily. Emily knew she wanted a tattoo at some point in her life, but she was on blood thinner at the moment. Getting a tattoo could definitely make her bleed a lot if she was a bleeder.

"You have to!" Hanna practically whined, shoving the book in her direction.

Emily sighed, and took the book from Hanna. Go big or go home, she thought. She was going to have to make a big deal about hiding this from Alison the next day, who would most likely strangle her if she found out Emily had gotten a tattoo while on blood thinner. Emily knew she should be making better decisions, but like hell if she was going to let some medication prevent her from getting a tattoo. Alcohol was one thing, a little bloody tattoo wouldn't kill her.

Hanna squealed with delight as they looked over the tattoo book. Emily was thinking more of where she could hide the tattoo, than what they were both going to get. After a quick search on her phone, Hanna pulled up a fairly simple dove tattoo.

"This one," Hanna said, showing Emily. "It'll literally be the size of like a quarter. You can get it on your right shoulder and I'll get it on my left. That way we match."

Emily chuckled nervously, "I'm trusting you on this."

"Don't worry! I heard it barely hurts," Hanna said, as she handed the unused book to Aria.

* * *

Whoever Hanna heard from that tattoos barely heart was a huge liar. Emily was practically biting her tongue as the tattoo artist began his work on the back of her right shoulder. Her pain tolerance had lowered substantially since breaking her leg, and normally she would've thought it was would've gotten better. She didn't know how Hanna had roped her into doing this, and Emily was the sober one!

The pain on the back of her shoulder seemed to increase, and she wondered if she had told the tattoo artist that she was on blood thinner, if he would've tattooed her at all. Thankfully, she didn't seem to be a bleeder and the tattoo wasn't that big. It was on the back of her shoulder, and she would probably be able to hide it from Alison because of its location. She was just happy she didn't get it on her waist or anywhere Alison would easily be able to see in the coming days.

The tattoo took twenty minutes at the most, Emily didn't really keep track of the time. As soon as the guy said, "You're all done," after he cleaned it and wrapped it, Emily was off the chair. She quickly told Hanna to sit in the chair, and looked at Spencer who was in an equal amount of pain. She was getting a small rose on her wrist. Aria was the only one who seemed to handle the pain, or she was just good at hiding it.

Emily went over to the mirror and turned around, looking at the tattoo that was now permanently on her skin. She sighed, well there was no going back now. She hoped it wouldn't be too soon until she saw Alison, maybe her anger would be toned down in a few days or weeks.

The tattoo did look good. A black dove on her shoulder, facing to the right. Hanna would be getting the same thing, but on her left shoulder. Her dove would be facing to the left.

"When in New York," Emily mumbled, trying to find an excuse for what she had just done.

At least she didn't bleed.

* * *

Emily woke up next to Hanna, who was snoring softly with her mouth hanging slightly open. Emily grunted, and sat up in their shared bed. Judging by the sun, they had made it to the morning. Emily checked her phone, which was on the bedside table right next to her medication. The bed they slept on was heavenly, it was some of the best sleep that Emily had ever had.

It was 10:30AM, and they hadn't gotten in from their night of fun until 4AM. Emily's eyes itched to close and have some more sleep, but Emily knew that Alison was due in New York City in a half hour. Emily wasn't going to be able to meet her in Grand Central, but she was going to have to meet up with her soon. Plus, checkout was at 12.

From the lack of noise in their hotel room, she assumed both Aria and Spencer were asleep as well. Emily sat up in the bed, and looked at Hanna. Hanna had her arm securely wrapped around one of her pillows, and Emily felt bad for waking her up from her slumber.

"Han," Emily whispered, gently shaking her best friend. She avoided Hanna's shoulder, which was wrapped from the tattoo that they had gotten.

Hanna grumbled in her sleep and frowned, "No, I'm not getting up."

"Well, we have to be out of here in an hour and a half. It'll be less time for you to get ready," Emily said. "You guys can get breakfast on your way out of the city."

"Right I forgot, you're staying behind," Hanna sighed, opening her eyes to look up at Emily. "Helping your eye fucking buddy with her book contract."

"Hanna!" Emily said, pushing Hanna slightly. "That was five years ago."

"Why can't you just come with us?" Hanna asked, sitting up. "Why can't her husband just help her?"

"Because he works on the weekends," Emily said. "And she's my friend, I would help you with your book contract if you had one. And I've helped you with a lot of your wedding planning might I add."

"Yeah! Because you've been my best friend since forever, and you're my maid of honor. That's your job!" Hanna protested.

"Well I already said I would, and she's almost here so there's no backing down now," Emily said, stroking Hanna's hair. "Now let's get the other two up."

Hanna didn't follow Emily as she rose from their bed to wake Spencer and Aria. Emily padded across the room and into the hallway as quietly as she could despite having the brace on her leg. She peeked in Spencer and Aria's shared room, and saw them both asleep. They both were facing the window, and Aria had one arm loosely around Spencer's waist. She felt bad for having to wake them up also, and laughed because she always knew that Spencer was a little spoon.

"Spenc, Aria," Emily whispered, tucking her hair behind her ear so that she could bend down over them.

Spencer's eyes blinked open as Aria slept on.

"What time is it?" Spencer asked immediately.

"Little after 10:30. We don't have that long to get up and get ready," Emily said. "Can you wake up Aria for me? I call the shower first."

Spencer nodded, and yawned. "I have to say Emily, that was so much fun last night. You'll have to plan my bachelorette party."

Emily laughed, "Thanks. I thought you guys would like it, but I call the shower first!"

Emily left the room, leaving Spencer and Aria's room. She hurried to the shower, even though no one would try to get in it before her. She was just excited to use the side jets that this fancy bathroom had.

It took a miracle, but Emily and the other three were able to all take showers and get ready by 12. They had left with about twenty minutes to spare, and Emily saw them off as they got into Spencer's car. All their tattoos were beginning to heal, and they had removed the wrap that was covering it. Emily had hers concealed behind a gray sweater, confident that she would be able to keep her tattoo from Alison for now.

Emily took a cab to Alison's hotel, which was on the other side of Manhattan. Alison said she would be waiting outside for her when Emily arrived, and even though they were only apart for two days, Emily missed her greatly.

She grew antsy in the cab, and paid hurriedly when she got to the hotel. Just as she said, Alison was waiting out front. The driver got out, and walked to the trunk to take Emily's bag out for her. Emily didn't even say thank you, instead she was already in Alison's tight embrace.

"Hey," Alison said, warmly.

"Hi, I missed you," Emily said, trying to not think about the searing pain in her shoulder as Alison hugged her tightly. Her arm was right on top of it, and it hurt.

"Me too," Alison said, letting go of Emily. "Thank you so much for staying an extra day for me."

"Anything I can do to help you out," Emily smiled.

The taxi driver placed Emily's suitcase next to her, and mumbled something about her wasting his time. Emily looked apologetically at him, but he was already in the taxi and driving away. This was New York after all.

"Well, the meeting is at around 2," Alison said, as Emily turned back to her. "I'm assuming you're hungry for lunch?"

"I'm starving," Emily said. She had been ignoring the sound of her stomach all morning.

"Well good," Alison smiled, stepping forward to kiss Emily quickly. "We can go to my favorite brunch spot here. I didn't eat much either. I was hoping you hadn't eaten."

"It all worked out," Emily smiled, as the two remained close. Emily continued to look into Alison's icey blue eyes, and was very tempted to lean back in and kiss her again.

"Right, let's get your suitcase up to the room then," Alison said, picking up Emily's suitcase. "You'll love this brunch place."

* * *

 _Alison watched her from where she sat in the crowd. She was beaming as she walked across the stage to receive her diploma. Alison couldn't help but smile as she watched her, but the sadness growing in her chest and stomach was beginning to overpower her happiness to be graduating._

 _This was it, their last day together as a class. For twelve years they all went to the same school, and practically grew up together. And now, they would barely see each other again, if ever. Alison knew she would miss the girl deeply, the one who was shaking the hand of their principal and taking her high school diploma with her other hand._

 _Alison had already gone up and received her diploma, she held it in her hand tightly. But now she was watching Emily, who she knew would be leaving for army boot camp in a short time. Alison desperately wished that she had told Emily of her feelings when she had the chance, the feelings she had grown for the girl walking off the stage for a few years now. But, she didn't want to ruin anything for Emily. She didn't want Emily to change her plans just because of Alison._

 _So she watched Emily accept her diploma, and she smiled at Emily when Emily looked her way. Maybe things would've been different if she had opened her mouth about her feelings earlier, or maybe this was how it was meant to be. This may be the last time she laid eyes on Emily Fields._

* * *

"I like it," Edward said. "I like it a lot. I read it over about three days."

"You do?" Alison asked, though she knew he already liked it. "It honestly came to me on a whim when I was in college."

"I think it was very well written," her publisher said. "I'm not too fond of the title however, but I want to make a contract with you. I'm hoping you'll be able to make more visits here to discuss your book."

"Um, yeah," Alison said. "I'll be able to once I'm out for the summer. I mentioned I teach high school English so-"

"No problem at all," he said, interrupting her and waving her off. "The summer works, since it'll give us some more time to plan it out and take the appropriate measures to make sure that the book is a success."

Alison nodded, and leaned back in her chair. Edward sat back in his desk chair, and put down the stress ball that he had been squeezing. His desk was slightly disorganized, and many paper weights held down various stacks of files.

"What I did want to discuss was the relationship between two of the characters, what were their names?" he asked, scratching his whiskers.

"Uh, Lauren and Catherine," Alison said. "Their dynamic was just based off of a relationship that I had known in high school."

"Right," he nodded. "You know, there aren't many books that have strong LGB-yada yada yada in it. Sure, there is some but not really any that are too popular. I think your book may be it."

"Oh?" Alison asked. "Thank you."

"Of course," he said, clicking his pen at a fast rate. "Do you ever plan on establishing them as a couple?"

"Well, I did plan for Lauren to actually be alive, but I haven't gotten to that point," Alison said. "Catherine and the others still think that Lauren died."

"But you do plan on them getting back together when Lauren comes back?" Edward asked.

Alison thought about it for a moment, "I guess I didn't really plan it that far, maybe?"

"Well, we'll see how the sales go for the first book and the response. Honestly, I like them together and I think a lot of people will too. What is it called nowadays...shipping? I ship them? I don't know, it's lingo my daughter uses, I probably shouldn't be using it," Edward said, going red with embarrassment.

"No, you used it correctly. Good job," Alison laughed.

As they continued talking, Alison wondered that if Emily ever read the book she would make the connection with Lauren and Catherine. Emily was off doing who knows what while Alison was in her meeting, she just couldn't wait to see her already.

* * *

"Emily!"

Emily looked up from where she sat in the sandwich shop. She had been reading a news article on her phone about more bombings in the Middle East and waiting for her turkey sandwich to be made. She looked up from her phone to see a brunette with a wide grin approaching her. It was a face she hadn't seen in a long time.

"Paige!" Emily said, her voice leaking surprise in the tone.

"You're one of the last people I expected to see out here," Paige asked. "It's been so long, can I have a hug?"

Emily stood up and bent over the small table in front of them to give her a hug. She pulled back and sat back down in her chair.

"I didn't know you lived in New York," Emily said.

"The move was pretty recent, mind if I join you for your sandwich or are you expecting someone?" she asked.

"Oh no, go right ahead," Emily said. "Where abouts do you live? I'm here for-"

"Hanna's bachelorette party?" Paige finished, as she placed her sandwich down. "Yeah I saw some of the photos that she posted on Facebook. It looks like you guys had a lot of fun. And I live in the Bronx, I'm just here for a job interview."

"For what?" Emily asked.

"Google actually," Paige said.

"You gave up the Olympic swim dream too?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, I could never be as good as you!" Paige laughed, as someone called Emily's name. Her sandwich was ready.

Emily moved to stand up and get her sandwich, but Paige was already rising to her feet.

"Don't worry, I got it. Just sit," she said, and hurried off to get it.

Emily sat back down and waited for her sandwich. She looked at her phone to see if Alison was out of her meeting yet, or if she may end up having dinner with Paige. Paige returned with her sandwich and set it in front of her.

"So, how have you been since coming back from war? I've heard about your leg, I just didn't know a good opportunity to contact you," Paige said.

"Oh, I've been good. I have good people taking care of me," Emily smiled.

"I always knew your best friends would," Paige said.

She talked to Paige for a few more minutes, but mostly ate her sandwich. They were talking about future life plans when Emily saw someone walk up behind Paige. It was Alison, her blond hair a bit messy from the wind outside, but she still looked flawless.

"Hey Em," Alison almost cooed, from where she stood behind Paige. Emily smiled widely, as Paige turned in her seat to look at Alison behind her. "Sorry for barging in, mind if I sit?"

"Hi Alison," Paige said. "I didn't know you were in New York too."

"I'm here as her support, she's here on business," Emily said, excluding the fact she was having a book published.

"That's great that you're supporting her," Paige said. "I didn't realize you guys became friends."

"We were friends throughout high school," Alison corrected, pulling up a chair next to Emily. "We just rekindled the friendship since she's been gone."

Paige eyed them, as Emily offered the other half of her sandwich to Alison. Alison took it graciously, as an awkward mode set in.

"So Paige, how has your life been in these past five years?" Alison asked. "Do tell."

"Um well, I went through college. I decided to come to New York for a fresh start," she said.

"Why here?" Alison asked, questionably.

"Just for a fresh start," Paige responded, as she and Alison exchanged stern looks.

Emily gulped.

* * *

Alison had stayed relatively silent since they had gotten to their hotel room. It was about 7, and since leaving Paige at the sandwich shop, Alison's words were few and far between. Emily didn't know if she should say something, and wondered if Paige's presence had thrown her off.

Emily sat on the bed that they would be sharing, and watched as Alison dug within her suitcase. She hadn't even had the chance to ask how her conference had gone, since she didn't want to mention it in front of Paige.

"Are you okay?" Emily asked, her voice coming out soft and quiet.

Alison looked up from her suitcase, but didn't respond to Emily at first. Emily began to wonder if she would respond, when she finally spoke up.

"Yeah," Alison said. "Yeah I'm fine."

Emily stood up from where she sat the bed, and crossed the room to where Alison was standing over her suitcase. Without missing a beat, she wrapped her arms around Alison's waist, and pulled Ali's back flush to her front.

There was a floor length mirror in front of them, and Alison looked up from the suitcase to make eye contact with Emily's reflection in the mirror. Emily stared back at her and kissed Alison's cheek, her arms still snuggly wrapped around Alison's middle.

They stayed like that for a few minutes, they didn't need to talk. Alison could feel Emily's steady heartbeat on her back, her anger and frustration from seeing Emily's ex girlfriend was slowly disappearing. Paige and Alison had gotten into a bit of a stiff argument, to a point that Emily could see Alison's tightly balled fists in her lap.

"About Paige-," Emily began.

"No, don't say anything," Alison interrupted, squeezing one of the hands wrapped around her middle. "I got a little carried away. I guess she just resurfaced old feelings."

"Well, she's been in a two year relationship, so you don't have to worry about her," Emily pointed out.

"Should I have to worry if she wasn't?" Alison scoffed, smiling slightly at what Emily said.

"N-no! I was just saying," Emily said, suddenly feeling rather hot.

Alison laughed, "I know what you're saying Emily, don't worry."

Alison turned around, with Emily's arms still wrapped around her. She looked up at Emily, her pointer finger gently traced Emily's jawline.

"How long did you say you had to wait to have sex?" Alison joked, blatantly staring at Emily's lips.

"Two weeks," Emily smirked.

"Hasn't it been two weeks?" Alison said, rotating them so that Emily's back was pressed against the mirror.

"It has," Emily confirmed, leaning forward to kiss Alison.

Despite the fact there had been no action between the two for two weeks, their kisses were slow and patient. She could feel Alison smile against their kiss. They had only kissed for the past two weeks, but knowing Alison, she was impatient for more.

They continued to kiss, as Alison tugged on Emily's shirt. Barely thinking straight, Emily lifted her arms so that Alison could pull the shirt over her head.

"What is that?" Alison asked, and Emily froze.

"What is what?" she asked.

Alison was looking at the reflection in the mirror, she grabbed Emily and turned her around for her back to face her.

"That, did you get a tattoo?!" Alison asked, her voice laced with shock and anger.

"I-I-I," Emily stuttered.

"Emily you are on blood thinner for fucks sake," Alison said. "No matter how small it is."

"I'm sorry! I didn't want to disappoint Hanna," Emily said, awkwardly pulling her shirt back on.

"Disappoint her?!" Alison asked, outraged. "She wouldn't be disappointed, since you're not even supposed to be getting tattoos. Were you drinking when you're not supposed to be too?"

"No!"

"But yet you still got a tattoo," Alison sighed, the anger in her voice fading. "What am I going to do with you? Do you usually do things like this?"

"See this is why I need someone like you to guide me," Emily said, smirking. "And no, I don't. Just trying to live a little, ya know."

Alison wanted to express her love for Emily verbally once again, but decided to remain silent. Instead she hugged Emily tightly, and hoped none of the stupid decisions that Emily sometimes made would ever cause Alison to lose her.

* * *

 **Happy one year to Affair. It's been a long journey so far, and there are only a few chapters left. After Affair, I will be starting a new fic. Thank you for all of the reviews and for the support, I love all of you and I love this fandom.**

 **-K**

 **always review. Please note, this chapter was shorter for a reason.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Welcome to the last chapter of Affair.**

* * *

On April 10th, Emily was back at the airport in Philadelphia. This time she wasn't there to take a flight, but instead receive someone from the flight. It was 9:30PM, and Emily anxiously paced the area where families stood waiting for their loved ones. Her father Wayne had brought Emily, and her didn't seem to be as nervous and excited as her.

Emily watched intently as the people who were leaving the airport from their flights, made their way towards the gate where she was and left. None of them were who she was looking for. Just as Emily was about to check the email on her phone to see if she got the date and time mixed up, she heard a happy bark of a dog.

Emily looked back to see a dog pulling rather forcefully on his leash, which was held by a man in a black polo shirt. He was pulling back with all of his strength, trying to restrain the dog from pulling that much ahead of him. Emily beamed widely as she recognized Peanut. He was extremely skinny still, but lesser than when she had first started feeding him.

Finally breaking free from the man holding his leash, Peanut ran full speed at Emily. Emily bent down on her good knee, and opened her arms. Peanut crashed into Emily, causing her to fall back on the airport floor. Her dad scrambled to his feet to help Emily, as Peanut let out a happy whimper and licked Emily's face vigorously.

Emily laughed and hugged Peanut tightly, as the man who was holding Peanut finally caught up with them. Peanut was whining excitedly as he licked Emily, and Wayne pulled Peanut back by his leash so that she could get up. Emily got to her feet, and pulled the new navy blue collar out of her back pocket. She got it at the pet store, along with all of the other pet supplies they would need to have a dog. His collar had little white anchors patterned along it, with a gold name tag that had his name and Emily's phone number.

"I've missed you so much," Emily said, kissing Peanut's head and rubbing his ears.

He looked the same as Emily remembered. A sandy coat with a dark nose and muzzle. The fur around his eyes was dark colored too, and his paws were white. It kind of made him look like he was wearing socks.

Emily and her father talked with the man who worked for the pet reuniting organization and said that Peanut had slept for most of the flight. Emily thanked him profusely, and then it was time to take Peanut home. She took the leash from the man, and smiled down at her dog. He was hers, still hers. Peanut looked up at her as they walked through the airport, which was a bit difficult since Peanut wasn't exactly leash trained just yet. He was smart though, and after a few tugs on the leash whenever he got too far in front of Emily, the pair fell into a steady pace alongside Wayne.

"I texted your mom," Wayne said, as he smiled down at Peanut. "She says everything is ready for him. Have you told your friends about him yet?"

They exited the airport and towards Wayne's car in the parking garage. The second Emily opened the back door, Peanut hopped in without a second thought. He was an Afghanistan dog born and raised, Emily wasn't even sure how old he was. He seemed maybe three or four, but she wasn't sure. All of this was new to him, yet he seemed happily content with it. Emily climbed in after him, wanting to sit in the back seat to get as much bonding time as she could.

"Wait, before we go I want to take a photo!" Wayne said, taking out his phone.

Emily almost rolled her eyes, her father was always the one to document their lives through photos. She didn't understand it in high school, but now she sees the meaning. Being able to look back on their life with the photos is a treasure. She pulled Peanut closer, and Wayne snapped his fingers to get his attention.

She beamed widely as her dad took the photo, saying they both looked great and that he would send it to her right away. Sure enough, Emily got a text from her dad. The photo of she and Peanut was attached, and Emily quickly saved it onto her phone. She beamed widely at it, even her dog looked like he was smiling.

 **Emily: Surprise! Guess who got their army buddy back :)**

* * *

Alison was sitting at their kitchen island, multitasking. She was becoming one of those wine moms who spent all of their time on Facebook, and she didn't even have children yet! To keep herself away from stalking her feed, she opened up a new tab. Her fingers danced lightly over her keyboard, questioning if she should look up what she had been meaning to look up for a few days.

Making up her mind, she quickly looked up the information on Google. It was an uneasy feeling, taking the first step to research it. She clicked on the first thing that popped up, "Divorce in Pennsylvania Info." She skimmed through a few of the sites, and various lawyers that she could contact just in case. She knew Elliot wasn't going to settle with her that easily, though between the two of them it was pretty obvious that things were heading in the wrong direction. And that was okay with Alison, she didn't want them to get better at this point.

She was typing an email to a local divorce lawyer, when she heard heavy footsteps coming down the stairs. Quickly minimizing the window, she opened up Facebook again. Alison knew she was going to have to bring it up at some point, but now was not the time. She didn't even know _how_ to divorce him.

Elliot came into the kitchen, adjusting the cufflinks on his collared shirt. His hair was neatly parted as usual, but there were signs of tiredness in his eyes. He hadn't been sleeping well lately, and Alison felt bad for him. It had turned out, he and Olivia had gotten into an argument about her mother's promiscuity. Elliot had made an offhand comment about Rowan not only pursuing him before they had started dating. Olivia had thought he was calling her a slut, made a scene in the museum, and told him she never wanted to see him again since all he viewed her as was 'another girl.' Though Alison understood where she was coming from, she knew deep down that Elliot had been in love with Rowan sixteen years ago...and maybe had some unsettled for her still.

"Hey," he mumbled, picking up the coffee pot to pour himself a cup of coffee.

"Morning," Alison replied, as she closed her laptop. "Sleep well?"

"Not really," he said dully.

"Have you tried talking to her?" Alison asked hopefully.

"She won't answer my calls or texts," he said. "I don't want to keep pushing it, she's really mad at me."

Alison sighed, and glanced at the time. School started at 8am, and it was already 7:34PM. She looked at her husband, who was sipping his coffee and staring at the ground.

"As much as I would like to stay and talk, I do have to get going," Alison sighed. "I have her in class today, I can talk to her if you want."

Elliot didn't answer, and Alison picked up her purse silently. She made her way towards the archway that lead to their front hallway, when Elliot called her name. She turned around, he looked like a wounded puppy.

"Can I have a hug?" he asked.

He didn't have to ask twice. She put down her purse and wrapped him in a tight hug, a comforting hug. The hugged as close friends, not as lovers. They hugged like the world was crumbling at their fingertips, and everything seemed to be going wrong. She knew Elliot must've gotten the idea that their marriage was heading to an end, and his relationship with his daughter was in the trash. But in that moment, after all the fighting they had done, they were able to hug as friends.

She knew for a fact she loved him, she would always love him. But the spark they once had fizzled out, and Alison knew that she was being selfish, but she didn't want to string Elliot or Emily along any longer.

* * *

"Please don't get mad at me."

Spencer frowned, and set down her cup of coffee. They were in the Brew, tucked away in the corner for some privacy. Spencer was sitting across from her, and Alison needed to tell her something that she had been meaning to get off of her chest.

"Why would I be mad at you?" Spencer asked, frowning slightly. "What happened?"

Alison sighed, wondering if she should just jump right in on it. Spencer had always understood her, even in high school. They had been closer lately, most likely because of the friendship between she and Emily.

"Please promise me that you won't tell anyone," Alison said, desperately.

Spencer shook her head, "I won't. Just tell me what's going on."

Alison looked around them slightly, and leaned forward in her chair.

"This is kind of hard to tell you, but I've...kind of, sort of been in a romantic relationship with Emily," Alison admitted.

Spencer frowned and opened her mouth slightly in shock. Whatever she was expecting Alison to say, it wasn't what she had said.

"Wait, you're not joking," Spencer asked, noticing Alison's serious face.

"No, I'm not," Alison said.

"How long has this been going on?" Spencer asked.

"Since December."

Spencer leaned back in her chair, and sighed. She kept her eyes locked on Alison, searching for any sign of the fact she was joking. Alison wasn't sure what she thought, or if she was mad or disappointed in her.

"Are you mad?" Alison asked.

"I'm just a little confused, that's all," Spencer said. "You're married to Elliot. Or is something going on?"

Alison rubbed her temples, "I don't know Spencer and that's the thing," she sighed. "I know what I want, but getting to the final destination is going to be hard."

"Does Elliot know about this...affair?" Spencer asked.

"No. He has no idea," Alison said. "I think he has some suspicions, but our marriage is so far down the drain at this point I don't think that he cares. All he does is drink and cry."

"That's awful!" Spencer gasped. "He's crying about your marriage?"

"No, he and Olivia got into a fight and she told him to never contact her again," Alison sighed. "It's all just a fucking mess."

"Well it sounds like he's losing all of his family that's close to him, I would be upset too," Spencer said. "My advice to you is, if you bring all of this up to him, do it easy."

"You're not mad?" Alison asked.

"I guess I can somewhat understand it," Spencer shrugged. "I mean I've known of your thing for Emily when you told me in eighth grade. But I didn't think you would still have feelings for her after we graduated."

"I didn't either, I thought I was fine. Everything was fine until she came back," Alison said.

"Emily is the only reason that your marriage is falling apart?" Spencer asked.

"Yes...well no. Elliot's been drinking a lot, but that started before Emily came back. And the fact he got really pushy about kids," Alison said, thinking about it more.

"Right, well whatever you decide to do, just be conscious of the repercussions. This isn't going to be an easy thing," Spencer said.

"Thank you, Spenc," Alison smiled. "Are you sure you're not mad?"

"I'll be fine," Spencer said. "If you need to talk about anything else, let me know."

"I love you," Alison said, genuinely. "You've always been like family to me."

"Maybe you're my secret sister or something," Spencer joked.

* * *

Students were exiting Alison's classroom at the end of the period, after having a heated argument over the significance of Holden Caulfield's intentions. Alison was happy with the fact they argued their opinions with each other, and that a few people were actually enjoying the book.

"Olivia, can you come here for a second?" Alison asked, not looking up from her computer.

Olivia was always one of the last ones to leave. She was slow at packing up, and Alison wondered if there was a reason behind it. She could hear Olivia sigh from her seat, most likely knowing what the conversation would be about.

Olivia approached her desk, her backpack slung over one shoulder.

"Yeah?" Olivia asked.

Alison looked up and faced Olivia.

"I wanted to talk to you about-"

"If it's about Elliot, I really don't want to hear it. I don't want to talk to him ever again," Olivia said, interrupting Alison. Alison noticed she had gone from calling Elliot "dad" to his full name.

"I just wanted to say that I'm not sure what happened between you two, but you have to believe me when I say that he's distraught by what he said. He didn't mean it like that," Alison explained.

"Are you his representative now?" Olivia asked.

"I'm saying this because you won't even give him a chance to explain," Alison said, her voice raising slightly.

"Look, I've heard enough from Emily about this. I just don't want someone to be in my life that thinks my mother was just another lay," Olivia huffed.

"That's not true at all, and you know it. Your father was in love with your mother, and he probably still is," Alison said.

"Than why did he ignore my existence and my mother's when she wrote to him about me?" Olivia asked.

"Have you even talked about this with him? Maybe if you heard him out you would," Alison said.

Olivia sighed, and Alison knew that she was finally getting somewhere with her.

"You don't have to talk to him after this, but give him a chance and hear him out. You may think he's against you, but he's not. He really loves you Olivia, and he was so excited to form an actual relationship with you," Alison said. "He's always wanted a family, and you were his opportunity to make things right."

Olivia met Alison's eyes, and she could see the sadness.

"I'll talk to him," Olivia sighed. "But if I don't agree with what he says, that's it."

"That's all I ask," Alison smiled. "Now get to your next class before your late."

Olivia turned towards the door, and Alison looked back at her computer to continue emailing a student's mother.

"I know about you and Emily."

Alison looked back up, Olivia was back standing over her desk. Alison opened her mouth in shock, Olivia said it so softly that Alison wondered if she had heard her wrong.

"What?" Alison asked. "How?"

"In the back of your car outside my house," Olivia said. "I haven't told anyone."

"Do _not_ tell Elliot," Alison said, her heart beating quickly in her chest.

"I won't!" Olivia said, taking a step back. Alison wondered how threatening she sounded. "Emily's been happier, even if you're cheating on my dad."

"It's really not what you think," Alison said.

"No, I know what's going on. But, I think you need to make up your mind. It's been going on for too long," Olivia said.

And with that she left the classroom.

* * *

Emily was sitting on her bed and reading one of the very last books that Spencer had given her. Peanut was sleeping peacefully next to her. He was adjusting well to living in their house. Pam seemed a bit adamant about them having a dog, since that meant she would be vacuuming a lot more. She had warmed up to him over the past few days, Emily knew that for a fact since she saw both Pam and Peanut asleep on the couch late at night once. Pam had an arm draped loosely over Peanut's body, and his head was lying on her thigh.

Wayne loved Peanut deeply, and constantly fed him pieces of vegetables and fruit. Sometimes her dad would slip him pieces of food from under the table, which Emily told him not to do because his begging would only get worse. Other than that, Peanut stayed right by Emily. He followed her everywhere, even into the bathroom. She tried to shoo him when she had to pee, but he laid down right on the floor. At least he had the decency to face away from her while she went to the bathroom.

Peanut let out a loud snore, and Emily smiled slightly. She ruffled his fur playfully as he adjusted his position on the bed. She was waiting for Alison to arrive, who just had found some time to come over and say hi.

A few minutes later, there was a slight knock on the door. Peanut sprang awake, and stood up on all fours on the bed. He growled and let out a protective bark.

Alison opened the door and peaked her head in. Peanut's tail wagged weakly, as she entered Emily's bedroom.

"Hope I'm not interrupting anything," Alison said, closing behind her. Emily set her book down on the bedside table.

"No, not at all," Emily smiled, as Alison walked over to where Emily was lying in her bed. She bent down and gave Emily a quick kiss as a greeting, which caused Emily to smile wider.

"So this is Peanut!" Alison said, rather excitedly. She held out her hand loosely for Peanut to sniff, which he did enthusiastically. His tail began to wag faster, and he jumped slightly to try to lick Alison's nose.

"Hey, down Peanut," Emily said, trying to grab him by his collar.

"Oh, he's fine," Alison said, pushing Peanut down with her hand. "Pepe used to be the same way when he was young."

Peanut rolled onto his back to allow Alison access stomach. Ali smiled and rubbed his stomach, causing his back leg to twitch furiously.

Emily sat up in bed, and propped herself up with more of her pillows. She watched Alison as she continued to play with Peanut, the joy on her face reminded Emily of when they were in elementary school.

"When do you get your brace off?" Alison asked, scratching behind Peanut's ears.

"Tomorrow," Emily said, in partial disbelief that the day had finally come where she would part with her leg brace. "I start PT since I'm not going to be able to walk that well."

"But you'll still be able to walk right?" Alison asked, looking up at Emily.

"Yeah of course, I'll just be shitty at it," Emily shrugged. "It's relearning to walk."

"Can I come?" Alison asked. "Yeah know...to see you walk."

Emily raised an eyebrow in confusion, "You really care about seeing me walk first?"

"Of course I do," Alison said. "Like you said it's relearning how to walk again."

"If you want, it would be nice to have some support," Emily smiled.

Alison sat on the bed, and placed her body carefully between Emily's legs. She leaned her back against Emily's front, and continued to play with Peanut. Emily wrapped her arms around Alison's middle, as she breathed in the familiar smell of her hair. She closed her eyes for a moment as she took it all in, knowing that soon she wouldn't remember that smell.

She didn't know how to tell Alison, her stomach knotted as Alison continued to play with Peanut. After a while, both Alison and Peanut settled down. Alison leaned back against Emily, tilting her head to the side so that Emily could place soft kisses on her neck.

"I'm have to go back to Afghanistan," Emily said, abruptly. She buried her face in Alison's neck and squeezed her eyes shut as she waited for her reaction.

"What?" Alison asked, her voice full of shock. She pushed off of Emily, and twisted around to face her. "I thought you said-"

"I signed a contract for four years, and then another for five. I've still have four years left," Emily said. "I asked if I could be transferred to the base near Rosewood, but-"

"Because you're young and still able bodied, they want you in Afghanistan," Alison deadpanned.

"Ali, I am _so_ sorry," Emily said, reaching out to wrap her hands around Alison's wrists.

Alison sighed, "Don't be. It's not your fault."

"If it makes you feel better, I won't be a combat medic anymore," Emily said. "So there's a lesser chance of me dying."

"But not a 0% chance," Alison said, sadly. "There never is."

"Look, if you don't want to continue what we have anymore because I'm going away I completely understand and I-" Emily said, though her heart was sinking.

"Don't," Alison interrupted. "So I won't see you for eleven months of the year?"

"Well, yeah," Emily said, looking down. "But only for four years, and then after that I'll try and transfer to the base near Rosewood, or somewhere in the United States. Honestly, Ali I don't expect you to do any of this. Like all the waiting and the probability that I may be transferred to somewhere on the other side of the country. Moving is such a pain-"

"I'm divorcing Elliot," Alison said, abruptly.

"Y-You are?" Emily asked, it was her turn now to be shocked.

"I was going to wait to tell you, so I could at least tell him first," Alison admitted. "But yeah...I'm divorcing him."

"Why?" Emily asked, and Alison gave her a look like she had no intellectual capability.

" _Why_? Why do you think Emily?" Alison asked. "I haven't had my fingers up you since December for nothing. Also the fact I told you that I loved you, I thought that was a bit of a giveaway."

"You were serious about that?" Emily asked, laughing slightly as she looked down at her hands.

"Of course I was, I don't throw around 'I love you' and not mean it," Alison said, as Emily looked at her. "I've been in love with you since we were in eighth grade. At least, that's when I finally figured out my feelings for you. And it's been almost ten years since realizing it and I'm still crazy about you. It just took me a little bit to figure out I still felt the same."

"You love me?" Emily asked, smiling slightly. "Really?"

"Yes. I do," Alison said. "Do you love me back too? Or did I just waste that whole heart to heart on you for nothing."

Emily rolled her eyes and grinned wider, "Of course I love you Alison. Geez, I loved you enough to have a freaking affair with you of course."

"Good," Alison said. "And what you were saying before about leaving for Afghanistan. I'll wait for you."

"You will?" Emily asked. "I honestly thought tonight was going to be where we ended it all."

"I'll wait, and after four years I'll follow you wherever you go," Alison said. "It's not the end, only the beginning."

* * *

"We need to talk."

"Okay, why?"

"There's not an easy way to tell you this but-"

"I know."

"What?"

"You left your laptop on. I saw what you were looking at."

"Oh...so you know-?"

"That you want a divorce? Yeah I do."

"Are you okay?"

"No...you were what pulled me out of my dark times. And now you're leaving me."

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine, I just want a drink and some sleep. We can call some lawyers in the morning."

* * *

"Okay," the physical therapist said, slipping the brace off Emily's leg. "Everything should be healed. Now I warn you, walking is going to be a bit hard. You're lucky because you were on your brace, but the range of motion in your leg needs to come back to you. It's going to be stiff."

"I know," Emily said, smiling widely. She was staring straight at Alison, who was smiling brightly back at her. "Just walk to her?"

"Yes," the therapist nodded. "As best as you can, at least."

Emily rose from the chair, and placed her weight on her left leg. It didn't hurt, but it was sore. She looked down and concentrated. Tentatively, she took a step forward with her left foot. It was hard, a lot of her joints were still stiff from not being used for so long.

"It's okay Em," Ali said, from across the room. "I'm right here."

Emily looked up at Alison and back down again. She placed more weight on her left leg, and then stepped with her right. That time it was easier, and she smiled at her progress. She did the same thing, and placed her left foot down. It was a bit difficult to not lock her leg out as she tried to walk. She was so used to not moving and part of her leg when walking.

Getting a bit impatient and excited, Emily began walking faster. It was rough, she almost fell over twice. She saw Alison, her arms open for her. A few more steps and she would be there.

"Go slow! Your muscles haven't been used in five months!" the therapist said.

Emily tripped this time, and fell right onto Alison. Alison caught her, but ended up falling down on her butt too. Emily trapped Alison under her, and began laughing. Alison laughed too, unaware of the physical therapist still in the room.

"You did it," Alison said, as Emily pushed the stray blonde locks away from Alison's face.

"I did," Emily said. "Thanks to you."

Alison cupped her cheek with her left hand, and Emily felt the absence of rings on her fingers. She pulled her down to kiss her, they had done a lot of kissing since Alison stopped wearing her rings and officially called it quits with Elliot. They had to kiss enough to make up for the coming eleven months where Emily would be away. Alison promised she would always write to her, and Emily hoped she would. She had her doubts about Alison waiting for her, and told her multiple times that she didn't have to. But Alison insisted she would wait, which boosted Emily's confidence more.

 _Because who knew this kind of love would've started from an Affair._

* * *

 ** _Epilogue to follow._**

Wow, my first fic is over. It took over one year, a lot of motivation, and a lot of frustration to finish this fic. I'd like to thank my best friend and favorite person in the entire world Adriana for motivating me to write this even when I was stuck in awful writer's block, if she's reading this that is.

I have a new fic in the works that I will be working on next. It's an AU about Emison and their baby. You can follow me on tumblr for more updates about that, but be on the look out. My url is emisonislifeok.

With that, I say goodbye to everyone who followed me through this. Your reviews and your support have been the world to me, and I hope you follow me to my next fic when that comes out. I'll be looking for you :)

With love,

Kylie xx


	18. Epilogue

**4 years later.**

* * *

Emily looked out the window from where she sat on the airplane. She had the window seat, and nowadays flying made her nervous so she kept the window cover over the window for the whole journey. Her stomach leapt in excitement and nerves as the plane pulled into the airport.

She smoothed out her uniform, the same one she wore all the time. The camo print made her stand out like it did during every plane ride she took. Her carry on of the same pattern as her outfit was stuffed under the seat in front of her, and although she was exhausted, she perked up upon the realization that she was finally home.

When it was her turn to get off the plane, Emily rose from her seat and pulled her bag out from under the seat in front of her and put it on. She walked down the aisle of the plane and left the plane, her stomach jumping to her throat. It had been four years since she got off the plane and needed assistance with a wheelchair, and she eyed the wheelchair waiting for someone resentfully as she walked passed. She was glad that she wouldn't be sitting in one this time.

Her phone's notifications were erupting as usual in her pocket, as it always did when she returned home from Afghanistan, and Emily was thankful that she didn't need to rely on letters as means of communication anymore. She missed hearing everyone's voice.

She took out her phone and looked at the notifications. Her most recent one was a text from the exact person she was expecting to get a text from. Alison.

We're waiting for you right outside the security check :) xx

Emily smiled widely, as her stomach flipped some more. She was especially excited to see who else was accompanying her to pick Emily up, and was becoming increasingly nervous and antsy as she walked through the airport.

As she walked towards the exit, she twisted the rings on her finger, a constant reminder of what she was going home to while away at war. The engagement ring and her wedding band rested comfortably on her ring finger, as it had been for three years.

She still remembers vividly the day the ring was presented to her, when Alison got on one knee after dinner one night at her house and asked her to be in her life for the rest of her life. It was unexpected, since Emily had just gotten home and was on leave for a month. But of course she accepted, and the next year that she was on leave they got married during a small ceremony that only their close friends and family attended.

Everyday with Alison in the official sense had been better than the previous one, Emily was in bliss despite the circumstances of her only being in Rosewood for a month every year. She thought it would be a definite strain in her relationship, and it was. But Alison stuck around, and she sent her letters all the time to keep her updated. This last year, she had received many more photographs from Alison, which elated Emily due to what the photographs were of.

Emily made it to the security check, and towards where people were meeting up with people who had been flying. Emily smiled widely as she spotted the faces she recognized in the crowd of other people.

At first, she saw blonde hair. People cleared as she made it past the security check, and the head of blonde hair was running at her at full speed as she had been for the last three years. Emily opened her arms widely, and caught Alison in her arms. She lifted her and put her hands on Alison's backside to support her weight as Alison wrapped her legs around her. Her wife pulled her in for a deep kiss, lips that Emily missed for eleven months a year. But this time it was different.

After kissing for what seemed like hours, Alison hugged her tightly as Emily held her in their bear hug. She eventually set Alison down, who turned on her heels and walked towards Emily's parents.

"Close your eyes Emily," Alison called, and Emily quickly obliged. Her heart was pounding in her chest in anticipation.

She waited until she heard Alison come back, and had to force herself to keep her eyes closed.

"Open," Alison said, and Emily could hear that Alison was smiling.

When Emily opened her eyes, she looked down at what Alison was cradling in her arms. Emily's mouth fell open slightly, as she looked down at the baby in Alison's arms, it was the first time she had ever seen their three month old daughter. Right around this time last year, they were trying for a baby. Emily was concerned, since she would be away for the vast majority of Alison's pregnancy, the birth of her child, and the first three months of their daughter's life.

"She's beautiful," Emily said, lightly stroking the pad of her thumb on their daughter's head. She already had thick black hair on the top of her head, similar to Emily's. Her skin was the same tan color as Emily's too, though it was a bit lighter since they used a donor with Alison's characteristics. She was sleeping peacefully in Alison's arms, clinging onto the fabric of her blouse with her small hand.

Emily held her arms out, and Alison transferred their daughter into Emily's arms. She held her delicately, and bounced her slightly in her arms.

"She is," Alison said, looking up at Emily. "She looks just like you. She was the only thing keeping me more sane about you being gone."

"Well, I'm back now. For good," Emily said, tearing her eyes away from their daughter.

"I know. And we're both so happy that you're staying home," Alison said.

Due to Emily's leg impairing her ability to be as active as she used to and her occasional PTSD flashbacks, she had stopped her career as a combat medic. They still sent her to Afghanistan, but she participated in other things that didn't involve being thrust into warfare. But now, she had been reassigned and her return from Afghanistan would be her last one. She now would be positioned right by Rosewood, her commute only being about 45 minutes.

"I love you," Emily said, leaning forward to kiss Alison.

"I love you too," Alison said, smiling slightly. "Now, let's go home. We have a lot of catching up to do."

"Are you ready to go home, Miss Rowan?" Emily asked their daughter, who stirred slightly in her arms.

"The two loves of my life," Alison said, looking back at them. "I'm still so glad that you're mine."

* * *

 _fin._


End file.
